


Red Storm

by lqior_astra



Category: The Mentalist
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-14
Updated: 2020-09-25
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:34:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 28,541
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25890667
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lqior_astra/pseuds/lqior_astra
Summary: Jane and Lisbon get stuck in a small town during an investigation, prompting them to be in closer quarters than they might like. Meanwhile, Rigsby is working through his growing feelings for Van Pelt. Cho remains as deadpan as ever. Will they be able to sort out their personal drama in time to catch a killer?
Relationships: Patrick Jane & Teresa Lisbon, Patrick Jane/Teresa Lisbon, Wayne Rigsby/Grace Van Pelt
Comments: 58
Kudos: 61





	1. Consultants and Complacency

"Sheriff Rydell, I'm Agent Teresa Lisbon with the CBI. You requested backup for a case?" She said, shaking his hand. 

"Agent Lisbon, nice to meet you." He gestured at Jane, who stood next to her with a contemplating look on his face. "Who's this?"

"This is Patrick Jane, he's a consultant with my team. He'll be assisting us in our investigation." 

The sheriff sneered. "A consultant, huh? Do you have any training, Mr. Jane?"

"By training, I assume you mean formal police training," Jane said mockingly, "and no, I don't have that. I'm a psychic. Well, I used to be. Pretended to be anyways."

"A psychic. Well how about that," Rydell said with a snort, "never thought we'd have to stoop so far as to have a psychic tell us who our suspects are." 

Jane piped up quickly, "Well you know what I think? I think you're a closed-minded, judgemental, control freak who projects his need for clarity in his life on to his job. And you know what I say to bastards like you? I say-" 

"That's enough, Jane." Lisbon cut him off and glared at him. "You said there was a body we needed to look at?" 

As soon as the sheriff was out of earshot, Lisbon hissed, "Jane, I do not need this from you today. You already have enough formal complaints from local law enforcement, and to be honest I really don't feel like paperwork today. Can you please just cooperate?"

Jane raised his hands in joking innocence. "I have no idea what you're talking about, Lisbon. I was only helping him see how he can fix his life."

She rolled her eyes and walked ahead of him, turning back just in time to see him grin smugly. 

Sheriff Rydell led them off the wooded path to a clearing of trees. Crime scene tape had already been put up and officers were crawling all over taking pictures and evidence. 

The body was in the middle of the clearing. She was dressed in a short, tight black dress. Bruises mottled her face and darkened her eyes. A knife handle stuck out of her stomach, the blade buried deep in her abdomen. A black stiletto hung limply off of her right foot. The other shoe was nowhere to be found.

Lisbon groaned and took a deep breath. This was going to be a frustrating case. Just as she was about to tell Jane to head back to the car and wait for her, she was interrupted by Van Pelt coming over with the report. 

“Hey boss,” Van Pelt greeted her, “so we have a new case. The victim is Callie Dover, age 31, married to a Jack Dover. A couple of runners found her off the trail this morning. She and her husband owned Dover Aeronautics, an up and coming design firm for commercial aircrafts. The coroner puts the time of death at anywhere between eleven and one. Apparently there was a charity benefit held by the company last night, we need to talk to everyone who saw Callie at the party.” 

“Good work, Van Pelt. Take Rigsby and go see if you can get the guest list from the company.” Lisbon said. 

“On it, boss.” Van Pelt blushed slightly but lowered her head to hide it. 

As Jane slid on gloves and went to examine the body closer, Cho moved to stand next to Lisbon, his arms crossed over his chest. 

“Cause of death is obvious. There are seven total stab wounds to the chest and abdomen. The coroner thinks she was unconscious when the attack took place.” 

“Interesting,” Lisbon replied, “she wasn’t killed here, there’s not enough blood. No fingerprints on the knife handle?”

Cho scowled. “Nope. It’s clean. No DNA traces on anything as far as we can tell.”

“My men are scouring every inch of these woods,” Sheriff Rydell insisted. “We’ll find something.” 

“Sheriff, as reassuring as that statement is, you asked for CBI backup on this. We’re taking over this case, and you don’t get to call the shots,” she said evenly. 

“She wasn’t killed here,” Jane said, walking back to the group. “And something is missing from around her neck.” 

Lisbon glared at him. “We already knew she wasn’t killed here. There’s not enough blood, and one shoe is missing, it must have fallen off when the killer moved the body. How do you know she had a necklace on?”

“There’s a strain line on her neck as if someone ripped it off in a fight,” Jane said, tilting his head slightly to look at the team. “And also there’s a picture of the victim taken at the party last night. It was a whole red carpet affair, very fancy. I would have liked to be there if only for the champagne,” he joked. 

“So, let’s get to it,” Lisbon said exasperatedly, throwing her hands up in the air. “How valuable was the necklace?” 

Jane leaned in conspiratorially. “Well over $50,000. Antique, and designer setting by the looks of it. They were planning to auction it off at the benefit.” 

Lisbon’s head shot up at hearing the outrageous amount of money and Cho raised his eyebrows. 

“Sheriff Rydell, thanks for your cooperation. We’ll be in touch,” Lisbon said, walking back to the car. “Let’s go talk to the husband.”

One thing Lisbon liked about her job in particular is that she got to travel. Of course, it was always within the state of California, and always for investigations. However, the long drives such as this gave her plenty of time to herself, quiet time to think over case facts. Usually, Jane was in the car with her, but they were both so comfortable with each other that they didn't feel the need to fill the hours with meaningless conversation. Occasionally they would talk about cases, but they tended to stay away from talking about their personal life. 

The drive to the crime scene that morning was around five hours from Sacramento to Santa Maria. They had debated flying out, but Lisbon wanted to drive and Jane didn't mind accompanying her. The rest of the team had gotten there long before them, having chosen the option to fly. The plan was that Rigsby, Cho, and Van Pelt would fly back to Sacramento later that afternoon to follow paper trails and Lisbon would drive back with Jane that evening. 

Before long, they pulled into the driveway of a giant house just outside Santa Maria. As they walked up to the front door, Lisbon turned to face Jane. 

"No funny business, okay? This is a high profile case and we don't need a lawsuit from the biggest aerospace engineering company in California." 

Jane opened his mouth to say something and then thought better of it. When they reached the porch, the door was answered by a man in his early forties. 

"Mr. Dover?" Lisbon began, casting a glance sideways at Jane. "My name is Agent Teresa Lisbon and this is Patrick Jane. We're with the California Bureau of Investigation, and we'd like to ask you a couple of questions."

The scent of alcohol on his breath was strong when he replied, "Yeah, sure. Come in."

Jack Dover pushed aside the empty beer bottles from the coffee table. He sat down heavily in a chair, rubbing his temples. Lisbon sat opposite him on the couch, while Jane elected to stand and look around the room. 

"Mr. Dover, did you know your wife was missing?" Lisbon asked, pulling a pen and notepad out of her jacket pocket. 

"Yes. She didn't show up with the necklace for auction last night, we sold it anyways and told the buyer it would be delivered later this week," he said, the dark circles showing under sad eyes. 

"Why didn't you report your wife missing last night?" Jane asked. 

Dover winced. "I didn't report her missing because I didn't want to start drama. Maybe she had gone with another man for the night, who knows. I assumed that when she came back, we could discuss where she had been and move on from there. Infidelity, if that's what it was, is a private issue, Agent Lisbon, and not something I would prefer to hash out at a company party."

"Were her disappearances a common occurrence?" Lisbon asked. "Did she have a lover?" 

"No, absolutely not," Dover said without hesitation. "My Callie was faithful." 

Jane picked up a framed photo of Jack and Callie from the mantel and hummed thoughtfully. 

Dover hesitated and looked at Jane. "Mr. Jane, do you have reason to believe that my wife was seeing someone else?" 

Lisbon glanced at Jane warningly. 

"No, we don't. Did you know that the necklace she was wearing at the party was missing from her body?" Jane asked. 

Dover paled. "Oh my god. No, I didn't know that. I would never have asked her to wear it if…I had known it would cost her life." 

"She was wearing it to auction at the charity benefit, yes?" Lisbon pressed. 

"Yes. We were planning to auction it off and give the money to charity. It's a family heirloom, it went for a lot of money. Around 75,000 dollars, actually. I knew I shouldn't have asked her to wear it," Dover said, tears in his eyes. "Agent Lisbon, you should know that my Callie wasn't born into this life. She had no family money to speak of, no background. She came from nothing, and I loved her all the more for it. Callie was a smart girl, she handled most of the financials for our company. I think a lot of the attention that she got was from women who were jealous of how she had worked her way up the social ladder. It pained me to see how much she thought she stood out at events like the party last night."

Lisbon nodded. "I understand completely, Mr. Dover. Where were you last night between eleven and one?"

"The party didn't end until midnight. I have witnesses who saw me there until 12:30, and it took me half an hour or so to drive home. Callie wasn't with me. I was upset, but I came straight home and went to bed. I got here around 1:15 or so."

Lisbon recorded this in her notepad. "Do you know of anyone who wanted to hurt Callie?" 

"No. Everyone loved her. Well," he hesitated. "there was one person. An ex-boyfriend, from college or high school. He was obsessed with her. Still sent her letters and everything. I think the most recent letter came last week. Unsavory fellow, I have to say. Last I heard he was running a gang outside Lompoc. Ty Barrett, I believe his name was."

"Did Callie respond to any of the letters?" Jane asked. 

"Not that I know of. That was her business, and I allowed her to handle the situation," Dover said. 

"How trusting," remarked Jane from over by the bookshelf. 

Lisbon shot a glare his way. "Mr. Dover, thank you for your cooperation. We'll be in touch." 

"Of course. Anything to help find who did this to her," Dover said, walking them out. 

"Ah, one last question," Jane interrupted, "did you kill Callie?" 

"Are you kidding me?" Dover yelled. "I would never do anything to hurt her, I loved Callie more than anything!" 

"I'm sure you did," Lisbon interjected smoothly. "We have no reason to suspect that you're responsible for this. Mr. Jane was just making sure. Thanks for your time."

As soon as they got back in the car, Lisbon called Van Pelt. 

"What's up boss?" Van Pelt answered.

"Hey. Are you back in Sacramento?"

"Yes, we got back to the office about an hour ago. What do you need?" 

"Search the name Ty Barrett. Victim's ex-boyfriend. Apparently he runs a gang near Lompoc." Lisbon could hear faint typing sounds. 

"Got him. Arrested a couple of times on drug charges, never tried. A couple of counts of assault, and one charge for breaking and entering. The gang's name is the Strikers, the Southern California Strikers. Operates in Lompoc. Are you headed there now?" Van Pelt asked. 

Lisbon turned the keys in the ignition. "Yep. It's about a half hour from here. We'll see what we can find out and then head back. We probably won't get in until late, don't wait up for us."

"Got it. Sounds good," Van Pelt said. 

As they pulled out of the driveway and got back to the main road, Lisbon noticed how dark the sky was. She hoped they would get to Lompoc before the storm started. Lisbon took a deep breath and was about to yell at Jane for the stunt he pulled, but he was already asleep in the passenger seat. 

She rolled her eyes and kept driving.


	2. Letters and Lightning

Lisbon drove in silence for about fifteen minutes, her mind working on overdrive to contain the facts of the case so far. She didn’t consider the husband one of the primary suspects, something that was odd for her given the statistics. It was always more likely that a husband would kill his wife than anyone else. Her thoughts were interrupted by Jane stirring in the seat next to her. 

“Just a short nap this time?” She quipped. 

Jane groaned and rubbed his hands over his eyes. “I wasn’t asleep. Just pretending to be so that you couldn’t yell at me.” 

Lisbon’s face visibly reddened. 

"Here we go," Jane muttered.

“Speaking of that,” she began, “where do you get off questioning people like that right off the bat?” 

“People like what?” he asked innocently. 

God, he could be so infuriating sometimes. “You know what I mean, Jane! I mean, you can’t accuse one of the wealthiest suspects the CBI has ever had to deal with of killing his wife!” 

She turned to look at him, and he blinked innocently. It was always that damn smile, she thought. Lisbon returned her eyes to the road and raised her voice a little bit more. 

“I just don’t understand why you have to be so blunt with people! We can’t afford more lawsuits, and to be perfectly honest, you can’t afford any more complaints in your file!” she exploded. 

He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Well, I don’t understand why you have to yell at me all the time.” 

Hearing this, Lisbon flinched. She hadn’t meant to hurt him. “Jane, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have gotten so upset. You were trying to help, in your own way. I’m just frustrated today, and your outburst back there was the first thing I could take my anger out on,” she said. 

They sat in silence for a few minutes, neither of them turning to look at the other. Jane reached out and put a hand on Lisbon’s shoulder in a last-ditch effort to comfort her. At the touch, her grip on the steering wheel tightened, but she relaxed her arms a little bit. As weird as it was to have his hand on her shoulder, Lisbon couldn't help but notice how right it felt. Immediately recognizing the inappropriate thought, she squashed it down and filed it away to think about later. 

“Feeling better?” he asked sympathetically. 

“Yes,” she relented. “A lot better now that we’re almost there. We conduct the interview, and then we leave. There’s a giant storm heading this way, and I’m not about to get caught driving back to Sacramento in all that rain.” 

They pulled off the road onto a dirt drive. Van Pelt had texted the location of Barrett’s house, which also served as a meeting place for his gang. Her message had ended with the phrase, “Be careful out there.” Lisbon had dealt with gangs in the past and knew how to handle herself. Some were just drug pushers, while others were violent. It wasn’t too out of the ordinary for this job. That being said, she had no idea what to expect from meeting Barrett and his group. No one knew if they were okay with cops or not. Her gun sat ready in the holster on her hip, and she told Jane to stay behind her. 

The house was exactly what they had expected, nothing big and rather shabby. Paint was peeling off of the siding, and a couple of shutters were missing. Weeds grew rampant out front, and there were two broken windows. Four cars sat under a carport, leaving them to surmise that there were more than just a few people inside. It was getting late, and the black storm clouds seemed to be closing in on them. Lisbon pulled out her phone and shot a quick text to Van Pelt, Cho, and Rigsby, letting them know that they were going to be much later than she originally thought. 

Jane stood behind Lisbon on the porch as she pulled out her badge and kept one hand on her gun. She steeled her nerves and rapped insistently on the front door. The sounds coming from inside the house seemed to go silent, and the two of them waited in anticipation for who would answer. Before long, a young man opened the door, his calloused hands seeming to jump instantly to a fighting stance. 

“Who are you?” The man asked, fixing them with a fierce glare. 

“We’re CBI,” Lisbon answered. “We need to talk to Ty Barrett. Is he here?” 

The young man led them through the house into the kitchen. He told them to wait, and then he disappeared. 

Lisbon could hear faint snippets of the conversation through the thin walls. “Agents....here to talk to the boss....waiting.” 

She was about to tell Jane that they should just come back later when a man in his mid-thirties entered the room and sat at one of the barstools opposite them. He opened a new beer and took a long drag from the bottle. 

“Mr. Barrett?” Lisbon asked. 

He grunted in acknowledgment. 

“We need to ask you a couple of questions. Did you know Callie Dover?” 

“Oh, I know Callie, alright,” Barrett smiled. “Is she in some sort of trouble?” 

“She’s dead,” Jane said simply. 

Barrett’s eyes went wide, and the beer bottle crashed to the counter, spilling the contents everywhere. No one moved to mop it up.

“Mr. Barrett?” Lisbon tried again. “How did you know Callie?” 

He sighed. “Callie was my girlfriend. Back in high school. I dropped out two years early, and she stayed in school. Parents disapproved; she said, ‘screw the rules’. We had some good times,” he said fondly, running a hand through his hair. “terrorizing the town and all. Never wanted her to leave, but she had a life ahead of her. One that didn’t include me. I had just started a gang, for God’s sake!”

Lisbon noted this in her book. “Were you upset when she left for college?” 

“Of course I was mad. I had every right to be. Callie promised she would stay with me forever, but then she just left,” Barrett said. “I’ve been tryin’ to get her back ever since.” 

“Did you know she was married?” Jane interrupted. 

“She never mentioned it, no.” He scratched his chin and set the now empty beer bottle upright. “I knew she was involved with someone, but I didn’t know details. She said she was comin’ back.” 

Lisbon hummed thoughtfully. “How often were you in contact with her?”

"I sent her a couple of letters. She never wanted to communicate via text or call, just letters. Less traceable that way, I think."

"Do you still have any of the letters?" Jane asked. 

Barrett glared at him. "What's it to you? Those are my private business, and I don't have to share if I don't wanna."

"Sir, I understand your apprehension, but this is a murder investigation," Lisbon interrupted. "If you have the letters, we're going to need them, and if you don't want to give them to us, then we'll come back with a warrant." 

"Fine." The man stalked off down a hallway and returned with a folder full of letters. "Take 'em." 

She took the folder and tucked it under her arm. "Did she tell you she was coming back to you?" Lisbon asked. 

"Yeah. A couple of times, I think. She said she needed to get some things sorted out with her job, and she would come back to live with me. Can't say I'm surprised she got herself in trouble, she always did have a bad streak in her. God, I'm gonna miss that woman. Never met a girl who could cause as much trouble as she could." Barrett picked up the beer bottle and threw it into the trash. "Now, if you have no more questions for me, my boys and I have some things to attend to."

Lisbon could smell the strong scent of smoke on his breath. "Thanks for your cooperation, we'll see ourselves out." 

Jane and Lisbon stood on the porch after leaving Barrett’s house, staring in disbelief at the sky. It was pouring. The rain was so thick that Lisbon could hardly see her way to the SUV parked in the driveway. Jane looked at her, a mix of sympathy and concern in his eyes. She glanced at her watch. It was late, and she knew they would never make it back to Sacramento before midnight. Especially with having to drive slower in the rain. It was a recipe for disaster. They made eye contact, and ran on a silent count of three to the car, slipping on the mud in the overgrown yard. Safely shut in the vehicle, they took stock of the situation, each soaked in rainwater. 

Thunder cracked loudly overhead, bringing them back to the present. Lisbon pulled her jacket around herself, trying to cover up the way her shirt was clinging to her waist. Jane took off his coat and threw it into the backseat, trying to shake the water off of it. 

“Well,” Jane started, “this is new.” 

She raised an eyebrow. “New?” 

“I would venture to guess that you’ve never been stuck in a storm while sitting in your car, which just so happens to be sitting in a gang boss’ driveway.” 

“Okay, look, we are not stuck,” she said, proving her point by turning the key in the ignition and starting down the muddy drive. 

She had the wipers on full, and it still wasn’t enough for her to see well out the windshield. Lisbon leaned forward in her seat, squinting at the glass panel in a desperate attempt to keep an eye on the road. She was halted in her thoughts by Jane putting a hand on her shoulder again, not unlike the first time. 

“Lisbon,” he said gently. “We’re not going to get back to Sacramento tonight.” 

“Well, maybe we would if you stopped distracting me and just let me drive!” she countered.

He filed away the part about him distracting her. They could reexamine that later. 

“The roads out of here are bound to be washed out, Lisbon. It’s just not safe!” Jane argued. “Besides, we have to go visit the company building and the party venue tomorrow. It doesn’t make sense to drive back tonight, only to come back tomorrow.” 

Logically, Lisbon knew he was right. There wasn’t a safe way to get back to Sacramento, and she didn’t exactly fancy being in a large car during a thunderstorm. Lisbon always made it her priority to never stay in a town during an investigation longer than she had to, and Lompoc was no exception. It was a small but crowded place, and she didn’t have much of a chance of escaping from Jane as long as they were trapped there together. She sighed and reconciled herself to another night in a strange motel in a town in the middle of nowhere. At least Jane would be able to get a room on the other side of the motel. That way, at least she was able to have some alone time. Lisbon reconciled herself to a lonely evening reading a book and falling asleep early. 

The sound of Jane’s voice brought her out of her reverie. 

“Lisbon, let’s just find a motel. There’s one in town. We just have to get back to the road.” Thunder boomed over their heads, and electricity crackled in the air. “We really should get back as soon as we can. Drive slowly,” he instructed. 

She leaned forward and did as she was told. The headlights were on full, clearing a path through the dark. Breathing heavily, she didn’t dare drive faster than 25 miles an hour, at least until they got back to the main road. Lisbon could feel the wind pulling the car to one side. Her body involuntarily tensed as a lightning strike snapped through the sky. 

Jane watched her careful movements, unabated even when she shot a glare in his direction. He knew how carefully she usually drove, and given the conditions of the weather and the road, he knew she was even more cautious. Jane noticed the curve of her lips as she set her jaw and fixed the road with a sort of intrepid determination. Her eyelashes fluttered as she tried to blink away distractions. This thought gave him pause. 

Lisbon had called him a distraction earlier. His hand had been on her shoulder, and she had shrugged him away. Didn’t she want him to comfort her? Maybe Lisbon just wasn’t a physical touch person. No, that couldn’t be right, he thought. Jane had seen her hug people before but never had he seen that look on her face. It almost seemed like fear. Regardless of what it was, the hesitation was plain to see. He didn’t fight her on it when she moved his hand away. 

“Jane?” 

They were at the turn-off for the main road. 

“Do you remember which way it is to the motel?” she asked. 

“Left,” he said quietly. “It’s left. Continue until you see lights, and then the motel is on the right side.” 

They drove on in silence until they reached the bright lights that illuminated the motel parking lot. The rain still came down in sheets, and the thunder showed no signs of letting up anytime soon. Lisbon noticed that the parking lot was almost full. She parked the car in one of the very few open spaces and killed the engine. There were no sounds except for the drum of heavy raindrops on the roof of the car. She sat there, entranced by the noise, only to be interrupted again by Jane. 

“Do you want me to see if they have rooms available?” he asked. 

“Um, yeah. That would be great. I think I’m going to call Van Pelt, update her on the situation. We’ll be here at least for tonight, possibly longer, depending on the weather. This has to be one of the craziest storms I’ve ever been stuck in,” she said, trying to lighten the mood. 

“Oh please,” he said. “you grew up in Chicago. That’s tornado country. Don’t try to tell me that this could be worse than that!” 

She grinned, eager to jump back into the familiarity of their banter. “Touché. I have seen a couple of tornadoes in my life, but I would consider this storm to be among the worst.” 

“My clothes are going to be soaked just from the walk to the main office,” Jane groaned. 

“Just go already!” Lisbon said, pushing him towards the door of the SUV. 

He mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like, “Alas, the knight must save his princess.” Then, he was running through the parking lot in the dark. 

Lisbon shook her head and pulled out her cell phone. Thankfully, it hadn’t gotten too wet in the run to the car. She dialed the second number on her speed dial.

“Agent Van Pelt.” answered a clear voice on the other end. 

“Van Pelt, hi. It’s Lisbon.” 

“Oh, hey boss. How’d it go with Barrett? Got any new leads? Want me to follow up on anything?” 

The bombard of questions was almost overwhelming. Lisbon knew that Van Pelt was trying to prove herself to the team and make a good impression, but inquiries and leads were not helpful at the moment. As if on cue, a loud clap of thunder rocked the car. 

“Yeah, we got some leads. But um, there’s kind of a situation here. We’re stuck in a crazy thunderstorm, and it doesn’t look like we’ll be driving back to Sacramento tonight. I can barely see the road, so Jane and I are staying in a motel for the night. Tomorrow we’re going to see the party venue and talking to some of Dover’s coworkers. But for now,” she was interrupted by a loud bang. “We’re trapped.” 

“Oh.” Van Pelt remarked. “That’s not great. Anything I can do?” 

“No, I don’t think so,” Lisbon said. “Go home. It’s late, and we’re going to need you to run background checks tomorrow. Get some sleep, okay?” 

“Okay boss. Call me tomorrow and let me know where you’re at.” The phone line clicked as Van Pelt hung up. 

Lisbon leaned back in her chair, content to let Jane figure out the room situation. She closed her eyes and drifted off, but was jolted awake about five minutes later when Jane opened the car door, and cold rain blew into her face. 

“Bad news,” he said carefully. 

“What is it now?” she snapped.

“Well, I made sleeping arrangements. The problem is, there was only one room available.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, you guys! I was so happy to see a positive reaction to the first chapter! :) If you have prompt ideas you would like to see, let me know! The next chapter should be up soon, sorry to leave you all on a cliffhanger!


	3. Nerves and Nightmares

If looks could kill, Jane would be dead. 

"Tell me this is one of your elaborate jokes," Lisbon pleaded. 

He shook his head solemnly and handed her a single room key. "First floor, room eighteen." 

"Jane, if I find out that this is a prank, so help me God I will shoot you," she said, proving a point by placing her hand on the holstered gun. 

He held up both hands. "No pranks, no jokes. I'm completely serious, I swear." 

Lisbon searched for any hint of a grin on his face but found none. 

Each of them had a bag in the back of her SUV, kept there for when they had to go on trips that were a couple of hours away from Sacramento. Usually, they had some extra clothes and a first aid kit in case of any run-ins with potential suspects. Lisbon couldn't remember what she had stashed in hers, and Jane had no idea what was in his either. They certainly had not been prepared to spend the night in a dingy motel room in the middle of southern California. 

She turned the key over in her hand a couple of times, weighing her options. There was only one room, so she had no other choice than to share with Jane. With any luck, there would be two beds. Lisbon knew that there wasn’t another motel for miles, and it didn’t make sense to keep driving in search of one. She decided that it made the most sense to just deal with the cards they had been dealt. 

“Okay,” she said, reaching behind her seat to get her bag. “get your stuff out of the back, and we’ll make a run for it. No use in being out in this weather any longer than absolutely necessary.” 

When he had pulled his backpack up onto his lap, she counted down. 

“On three. One, two…” 

They quickly hopped out of the car and sprinted towards the covered area that was near the door of their room. Lisbon fumbled with the key but eventually was able to get it into the lock. Once they had ducked inside, she slammed the door shut more forcefully than was strictly necessary and took a look around the room. 

Lisbon almost wanted to cry. A single queen-sized bed sat in the middle of the room. The only other furniture was an old wooden table with no accompanying chairs and a console that held probably the most ancient TV they had ever seen. A secondary investigation proved fruitful, and she had found the bathroom. At least it had a decent shower, she thought. Jane had made himself quite at home, perched atop the table and swinging his legs back and forth like a child. She did not allow him to see the brief look of pure panic that flashed across her face as she surveyed where they would be staying. 

Lisbon threw her duffel bag into a corner with a sigh. “Jane, we need to talk about this,” she said with her back turned. 

“Okay, let’s talk,” he replied, genuinely taken aback. 

“What exactly is your plan here?” she asked, still not facing him. 

Staring at her back, he realized that she was shutting down. Sure, it was an uncomfortable situation, but he hadn’t expected her to be quite so upset. 

“Lisbon, why won’t you look at me?” he asked gently. 

She turned around in response to his words and crossed her arms over her chest. He tried to make eye contact with her, but she refused to meet his gaze. 

“Look,” he stated, “I’m sorry about this. I didn’t want to put you in this position, and I can tell you’re not exactly happy about it. You can take the room, and I’ll go out to the car and sleep in the backseat, okay?” 

“Don’t be ridiculous.” 

“I’m not being ridiculous, Lisbon!” he protested. “I’m going to go back to the car, and I’ll see you in the morning.” 

He was halfway to the door when Lisbon said, “You’re an idiot, you know that?”

Jane froze, surprised. 

“You can’t sleep in the car, Jane! Look outside. It’s not safe, and while this is a bad coincidence, a worse one would be you getting electrocuted by the storm all because you insisted on sleeping in the backseat of my car.” 

He nodded. 

“And besides, do you know how many incident reports I’d have to file if you got killed by a rogue lightning bolt?” she asked jokingly, some of the color returning to her face. “Because I do, and I’m not willing to risk it.” 

“Well, in that case, I guess I’m staying with you.” He set his bag down on the table he had just been sitting on. 

She knelt down and dug through her bag, trying to take stock of what she had brought with her. An extra jacket, shirt and a pair of leggings were the only other clothes she had. Lisbon bit back a groan as she realized how unprepared she had been. The other items in the bag consisted of a toothbrush, a small first aid kit, an extra phone charger, and some random sample bottles of shampoo that she had probably taken from a much nicer hotel at some point. When Lisbon returned her attention to the room, she noticed that Jane was just sitting there, shuffling a deck of cards in his hands. Lisbon assumed he was much more prepared for something like this than she was. 

Lisbon decided the first order of business was to change out of her wet clothes, and into the extra set she had packed. 

"Jane, I'm going to shower, okay? You can use it after me if you need to," she said. 

Laying all the rain-soaked clothes out on the bathroom counter, Lisbon let the water run until it was steaming hot. She relaxed under the spray, all the tension and frustration of the day melting away. Her thoughts immediately went to the awkwardness of the issue at hand. 

There was only one bed, so they would have to share. It wasn’t that Lisbon was opposed to the idea of sharing a bed with someone, and it wasn’t as if she and Van Pelt hadn’t had to share on several occasions before. But this was different because it was Jane. Not only was he a man, but he was her partner. Her infuriating, frustrating, stress-inducing partner whom she couldn’t help but have feelings for. Lisbon knew that her feelings that might have gone outside the realm of a professional working relationship. And she had to spend the night in the same room, not to mention the same bed, as him. 

Lisbon rinsed the shampoo out of her hair and turned off the water. She left her old shirt and pants laying out to dry on the counter and pulled on the clothes she had packed. Looking in the mirror, she wished she had chosen some pants that were less form-fitting. Usually, her work pants covered up her legs reasonably well and were only fitted through the hips. In this case, though, the material showed off every curve of her calves as well. The shirt wasn’t too bad. It was dark green, a color that nicely accented her eyes, and had a scoop neck. Thankfully, it was loose enough that it hung around her waist without clinging to it. Feeling mildly refreshed, she went back to the main room so that Jane could use the shower. 

“Jane? The bathroom’s open now if you want to use it,” she called, hanging her towel up on a hook. 

There was no response. 

“Jane?” She asked again. 

Still no answer. 

“Damn it, Jane!” Lisbon muttered under her breath as she pulled on her extra coat to go outside in search of Jane. 

She yanked open the door. Standing there was Jane, soaked to the bone in rainwater and holding a large brown paper bag.

“What the hell?” she asked. 

“I’ll explain in a minute. Can I please come in?” Jane coaxed. 

She moved so he could step inside. 

“I only let you in because you looked so pathetic,” Lisbon mumbled. “Whatever you have in that bag had better be worth the heart attack you almost gave me.” 

He sat down on the floor and flashed her one of his thousand-watt smiles. “I didn’t mean to scare you. I thought I would be back by the time you were out of the shower. I guess I was wrong.” 

Before she was able to respond, the light over their heads blinked quickly and then went out. 

“Things just keep getting better and better,” Jane joked. 

She held a hand in front of her face, not surprised that she couldn’t see it. Lisbon stumbled through the dark to where she had plugged in her phone earlier. 

“Power’s out. I think cell service is too. Looks like you won’t be able to take a shower tonight after all, Jane. Sorry about that.” 

“I’ll live. Besides, aren’t you curious to see what’s in the bag?” he asked. 

She rolled her eyes, not that he could see it. 

“I can tell you just rolled your eyes at me, Lisbon. I feel the frustration emanating from you.” 

“Yeah, right,” she said. “I think there’s a flashlight in the first aid kit. It’s a little one, though, only one battery, so we have to use it sparingly.” She located the flashlight and clicked it on. A soft yellow light cut through the darkness, illuminating the edges of Jane’s face. 

“That’s more like it!” Jane said. “Now, will you please come see what I brought.” 

She crawled back over to where he was sitting and propped the light between them. Jane reached a hand into the bag and pulled out a box of Cheerios, two individual packs of trail mix, a protein bar, and a banana. 

“Where’d you get this?” she asked, confident she knew the answer already. 

“I snuck into the main office and through to the break room. No need to thank me, Lisbon. We haven’t eaten since lunch, and I know for a fact that you skipped breakfast this morning. Again.” he said knowingly. 

“You took food from the main office? Jane, we’re going to get kicked out! And you couldn’t possibly have known that. I never told you.” 

“Didn’t have to. I figured it out on my own. And you honestly think that they’re going to kick us out? In this storm? No one’s that heartless, and besides, I can always just have the cost added to the room bill.” He smiled and pushed one of the bags of trail mix towards her. “I know you’re hungry.” 

Lisbon was about to argue that she wasn’t, but she knew the best way to get Jane to stop bugging her was just to eat it. And besides, she was hungry. She just wouldn’t admit that he was right. 

She tore into the bag and poured some of the dried fruits and nuts into her hand. Jane nodded appreciatively. He knew she needed to take better care of herself. 

“I’m going to go change. Lounge clothes are the only thing I have with me, so I guess I’ll just wear those until my normal clothes are dry,” Jane said, gesturing to his drenched suit. 

She handed him the flashlight to take into the bathroom. The ends of her hair dripped cold water onto her shoulders. Lisbon finished off her bag of trail mix and began using her fingers to untangle her wet hair. The most annoying part was that she couldn’t see what she was doing, and most of her efforts were in vain. When Jane returned, his attire suspiciously casual, he offered her the flashlight back. 

“Can you hold it for me please?” she asked after a few minutes of trying to prop it up at the right angle. 

He could smell the lavender scent of her shampoo as he held the flashlight. It seemed a fitting scent for her, although he couldn’t begin to guess why. It was calming in a way to watch her methodically work the knots out of her hair. Jane had always imagined that it would be smooth and silky to the touch, and briefly considered asking if he could help her, but decided it was better to not. He was already pushing his luck tonight. Once she had finished, he clicked off the flashlight so as not to drain the battery.   
Jane grabbed the protein bar out of the bag and unwrapped it. 

“If you don’t want it, can I eat the banana you stole?” Lisbon asked. 

He handed her the banana. “It’s not stealing if you’re going to pay it back,” he corrected. 

Once they had finished that, Jane opened the box of Cheerios and ate a couple of handfuls. Lisbon had some too, and Jane was glad to see that she wasn’t denying herself food. He didn’t think she realized she was doing it, but Lisbon sometimes went for days on only coffee, and it wasn’t healthy. 

They ate in silence for a few more minutes, neither of them daring to break the silence. 

“Lisbon?” 

She hummed in acknowledgment. 

“What do you want to do about the bed? I can sleep on the floor if you’d prefer, but I figured I would check with you first.” 

Lisbon knew that what she was about to say was highly unprofessional. 

“You and I are going to share. I’m going to stack the extra pillows and blankets down the middle of the bed so we’re separated. And the rule is no touching. If so much as a finger goes over the barrier to my side, I will punch you.” 

He believed she meant every word of the threat. “Are you sure? I can use the extra pillows and sleep on the floor.” 

“It’s nice to know you’re trying to save my reputation,” she said, smiling. ”but I can handle it, okay?”

Jane heard the hesitation in her voice and knew he could call her out on the lie. She was incredibly nervous, as accentuated by the fluttery movements he was sure her hands were making. Jane didn’t know if it was just their situation that was causing her panic or something else entirely, but regardless he decided not to point it out. 

“It’s getting late,” he said, trying and failing to see the exact time on his watch. “We should probably get to bed.” 

“Probably,” she echoed, her heart pounding in her chest. 

It was then that Lisbon realized what she had forgotten. She didn’t have any sleeping pills with her. Lisbon had been taking sleeping pills for several years, initially getting them to regulate her sleep schedule. Eventually, she transitioned to a stronger prescription to prevent the nightmares that so often plagued her. Never before had Lisbon forgotten to bring any. She usually kept them in the right inside pocket of her go-bag, just in case, but she had run out. Lisbon could feel her pulse quicken and her hands moving in a quick, repetitive motion to ward off the panic she was feeling. 

She walked over to the bed, lining up the extra pillows down the length of the mattress. Lisbon pulled aside the covers and laid down on the left side of the newly divided bed. A few minutes later, she felt the other side of the mattress dip as Jane slid into the right side. 

“I guess now is as good a time as any to tell you I don’t sleep much at night,” Jane said. 

“It’s alright,” Lisbon replied, not facing him. “Just lay here and try to rest, okay?” 

“Okay.” 

Lisbon knew she was being hypocritical. It’s not like she could sleep too well either, not without her pills, and definitely not while sharing a motel bed with the man she had feelings for. Several minutes passed in the dark, quiet and serene. 

“Lisbon?” 

“What is it, Jane?” she asked. 

“Remind me of the terms and conditions of crossing the pillow boundary again.” 

She didn’t dignify this with a response. “Goodnight, Jane.” 

“Goodnight.” 

Lisbon listened to the rhythmic sound of Jane breathing. Even though she knew he wasn’t asleep, the intervals of breaths in and out were relaxing. She fell into a restless sleep, emotions bubbling just below the surface. 

There were hands on her back, nails scratching at her arms. “Let go! Let me go!” Screaming. Her brother was getting hit, yelling, “Stop!” Siren sounds mixed with the cacophony of glass shattering. The scent of pristine hospital wings. “Not such a good girl now, huh?” She kicked him away. “You killed me, Teresa.” Blood dripped out of her nose. Standing in front of her mirror, putting makeup over Tommy’s black eye. Someone grabbed her by the hair. A red handprint on her face, evidence of a slap. “You killed me, Teresa! It was you, your fault. I could have been better, but you killed me. You killed me. You killed me!” Screams and wails blended in her head. She felt herself passing out, craved the emptiness. “You killed me.” 

Lisbon woke up to Jane’s hands on her shoulders, pinning her down. 

“Get off me! Jane, move! You shouldn’t be on this side of the line!” she protested, squirming against his grip. 

He removed his hands from her arms and she stopped thrashing around, still shaking.

“Lisbon, you were going to hurt yourself,” he explained. “I had to wake you up before things got worse, but you tried to attack me.” 

“I didn’t mean to attack you. I thought,” she faltered. “I thought it was my father.” 

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know.” Jane only knew bits and pieces of Lisbon’s past, much of it was gathered based on the few times she talked about it. He knew that her mother had died, and her dad became a violent drunk who took his anger out on his children. Naturally, she would have nightmares from that. 

“Usually I have sleeping pills to prevent this, but,” 

“But you weren’t prepared to be here overnight,” he finished for her. So that’s what she had been so worried about earlier.

She nodded, her head resting on his arm. 

“Will you try to go back to sleep?” he asked. 

“Okay.” 

“Good.” He pulled his arm out from under her head and rolled back over onto his side of the bed. “Are you still going to punch me for crossing the line?” 

“No, I think this is an exception,” she replied. 

“Goodnight, Lisbon.” 

A quiet settled over the room again. Lisbon closed her eyes but could not find solace in sleep. 

“Jane?” 

“Yeah?” 

“Damn the pillow boundary. Can I come over there?” she asked tentatively. 

“Okay. Come on,” he said, throwing the excess pillows off the side of the bed. 

Lisbon curled her body into his side, resting her head on his bicep. One arm snaked around her waist while the other reached up to stroke her hair gently. It was as soft as he imagined it would be. He felt her muscles relax as sleep claimed her again. She looked so innocent, so pure when she was asleep. He watched the rise and fall of her chest as she slept, and for the first time in a long while, Patrick Jane was able to fall asleep in peace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait, hope you enjoyed! Any mistakes are going to be blamed on the fact that I was writing from my bed instead of my uncomfortable desk chair, so I was more tired than usual. As always, if you have any prompts you want to see, let me know!


	4. Interviews and Introspection

Jane woke up before Lisbon did. 

He lay there calmly, trying to keep his movements to a minimum so that she could stay asleep for as long as possible. Lisbon’s whole body was pressed into his side, lips turned upwards into a sort of half-smile. Jane couldn’t help but marvel at how peaceful she looked when she was asleep. He could have watched her for hours, feeling the way her legs moved ever so slightly against his as she dreamed. It was nothing like the painful scene from last night. Instead, her thrashing and fearful whimpers had been replaced with a blissful expression and cuddling as close to him as she could get. 

Jane moved his hand from its spot on the pillow and ran it through her hair, savoring the feel of each soft strand as he wove his fingers around the ends. It curled up slightly at the ends, natural waves instead of the ones she usually put there with a curling iron. Her hair smelled strongly of the lavender shampoo she had used last night. Jane remembered with a pang that this was only a temporary arrangement and that this may well be his only time to wake up in the morning with Lisbon sleeping next to him. 

After a few more minutes of him playing with her hair, she woke up. Lisbon opened her eyes to discover that she was asleep next to Jane- no, not next to him, her head was resting on his arm! She pulled away with a start.

“Did I...fall asleep like that?” she asked, bright red blossoming across her face. 

“As a matter of fact, yes, you did,” he replied, stretching his arms and running his hands through his messy curls in a desperate attempt to calm them. 

“Oh.” 

Lisbon rolled out of the bed and crouched on the floor next to her bag. She fished out her phone and looked to see if they had service. Still no cell connection. The work calls would have to wait. Lisbon crossed the room and turned on the overhead light. 

“Power’s back, but mobile service is still out,” she reported. 

Jane mumbled something about his eyes hurting from the light before heading into the bathroom to take a shower. She tried not to think about how cute he looked when he grinned at her, blond curls only made more unruly by his attempt to smooth them down. Lisbon shook that thought from her mind as she ducked into the closet to put her clothes from the day before back on. They had dried out sufficiently and she was happy to be wearing something that accentuated less of her body than the leggings did. She didn’t mind showing off from time to time, but Jane was never around when that happened. It was some combination of the situation and the fact that she was harboring intense feelings for him that made her uncomfortable. 

Jane stepped out of the shower, feeling clean and refreshed. His hair smelled of lavender, having swiped a sample bottle of shampoo from Lisbon when she wasn’t looking. He put his suit from the day before back on and made an effort to dry his hair with the towel. All things considered, the situation in the hotel wasn’t as bad as he thought it would be. He hoped Lisbon didn’t regret cuddling up to him. Jane knew for a fact that he had gotten a better night’s sleep than he had in years, and he owed it to the fact that he was so close to another person. It had been a while since Jane had anyone fall asleep on him. The feeling of weaving his hands through her hair was going to be one that he would never forget, even if it was a one-time occurrence. 

After a couple of last-ditch efforts to make himself look presentable, he rejoined Lisbon in the room. 

“Good morning, Lisbon!” he said jovially, throwing his things haphazardly into his bag. 

“Mmm,” she groaned, unhappy at being awake so early without having had any coffee. 

“What do you say we get out of here?” He suggested. “We can drive back to Santa Maria, find somewhere to stop and get breakfast, and then find somewhere else with cell service.” 

“Good idea,” she agreed. “You can head out to the car, I’ll sort things out with the room bill.” 

With that, she dragged herself to the main office, duffel bag in hand, determined to find somewhere to get coffee immediately. The woman running the desk was pleasant enough, understanding their complicated situation and agreeing to send the bill to the CBI. Lisbon handed her the key, thankful to be rid completely of room eighteen. 

Once Lisbon had thrown her bag into the trunk with Jane’s, she climbed into the front seat. 

“Anything in particular you’re hungry for, Lisbon?” Jane asked cheerfully from the passenger’s seat. 

“No,” she responded. “How can you be so chipper at this hour without any caffeine to get you going?”

He considered this for a minute. “Because unlike you, I am not suffering from an addiction. That’s what the need for coffee is, Lisbon, it’s a caffeine addiction. You should try tea sometime, it might help your stress levels.” 

“My stress levels are none of your concern.” 

“Of course they are. When you get stressed, you take it out on the rest of the team. I’m really just protecting myself here.”   
“Naturally. I can’t believe I thought you would be concerned for my health without some sort of selfish motive behind it,” she teased. 

“What a terrible thing to say. Do you really think I’m selfish?” he asked, feigning indignation. 

“Only when you try to keep me away from my coffee,” she said. 

They had found themselves in downtown Lompoc, pulling into the parking lot of a somewhat run-down looking diner. Jane realized they weren’t going to find anything better, so he decided to just put up with what would probably be a disappointing breakfast and a tasteless cup of tea. 

Having sat down in a booth, Lisbon’s coffee and Jane’s tea arrived fairly quickly. They each took a sip of their drinks, savoring the taste. They sat in silence until Lisbon decided to address the elephant in the room. 

“Jane, we need to talk,” she began. 

“What is there to talk about?” he asked, knowing full well what it was she wanted to discuss. 

“Last night. I didn’t mean to end up in such a, umm, compromising place,” She said, a warm blush settling on her cheeks. 

“You didn’t. It wasn’t your fault. Why do we have to pretend it never happened? It’s not as if we did anything wrong, anyway,” he argued. 

“It’s unprofessional, Jane!” 

“There’s nothing unprofessional about two adults being forced to share close quarters by a situation beyond their control. Neither of us could have done anything about the bed, and besides, I wanted to make sure you were okay after that nightmare,” he pointed out. 

Lisbon shielded her face behind her coffee mug. “Jane, it’s okay. Maybe I’m overreacting. Nothing inappropriate happened, and tonight we’re going to be staying in separate rooms at a nicer hotel, okay?” 

“Sure. Whatever makes you happy.” Jane said nonchalantly. 

They finished their drinks, having decided that neither of them was hungry enough for breakfast. Lisbon told herself the fierce drumming of her heart had nothing to do with the inconclusive conversation she had with Jane about the events of the night before. She realized that he had been trying to comfort her by holding her closer than necessary, and she had pushed him away. It would have to be dealt with later after she was off duty. Lisbon’s main concern was finding somewhere with enough reception to call the rest of the team and convincing them to come spend a couple of days in Santa Maria until the case was over.

After they paid for their drinks, Jane and Lisbon got back in the car in search of somewhere with reliable cell service. They discovered that a couple of miles outside Lompoc was good enough, and Lisbon made the call. 

“Hey, Van Pelt.” 

“Hi, boss!” Grace answered brightly. 

“So there’s been a further development. We’re headed out to Dover Aeronautics to compare the guest list you and Rigsby got to an employee list. It’s probably going to take most of the day.” 

“Do you need us out there?” 

Lisbon hesitated. “Actually, that would be great. Get Cho and Rigsby, take two cars in case we need to split up. I don’t even want to bother with attempting to get a flight, what with the backup from the storm. We’ll probably be out here for a couple of days, so if you can handle getting a couple of hotel rooms in Santa Maria, that would be great.” 

Lisbon could already hear Grace typing something into her computer. 

“Anything else you need while I’m at it, boss?” Van Pelt asked. 

“Actually, yeah. I know this is a little awkward, but we’ve been stranded out here with not much to go off of. Jane said he has everything he needs to stay here for a couple of days, but I could use some extra shirts, whatever you can get your hands on. I’m sorry it’s so last minute,” Lisbon said apologetically. 

“Don’t worry about it,” Van Pelt insisted. “I have to run home to get a few things before we leave anyways, I’ll just grab some extra clothes for you.” 

“Thanks, Grace. See you when you get here.” Lisbon hung up the phone and slid it into a cup holder. 

She started the car and drove back to the road. It relieved her a little bit to know that it wasn’t going to be just Jane out in the middle of nowhere with her. Never before had she felt uncomfortable around him, but after the events of the night before, her feelings toward him could not be denied anymore. Lisbon knew that he likely didn’t feel the same, and even if he did there were obvious things that would keep them apart. She just desperately hoped that things between them could go back to normal. 

Unsurprisingly, there was a security check at the gated entrance to Dover Aeronautics. Lisbon flashed her badge and they were admitted. The complex was huge, office buildings towards the front and several warehouses and hangars around the other side. Aerospace must be a well-paying industry, Lisbon thought as she noticed all of the fancy and expensive cars in designated parking spots outside the main building. 

“Jane, we’re here to compare the guest list from the party to an employee list. All we’re going to do is interview some people who were close to the victim and get their statements. No messing around, no insulting people. Don’t say or do anything that could get us kicked out, okay?”

“Got it,” he replied. 

“In fact, don’t even think anything that could get us kicked out,” Lisbon amended. 

“Okay, no guarantees on that one,” Jane said, grinning. 

Before she had time to glare at him, a heavyset man wearing wire-rimmed glasses appeared to escort them into the building. 

“You must be the folks from the FBI,” the man said. 

“CBI, actually. I’m Agent Teresa Lisbon, and this is Patrick Jane,” Lisbon corrected, shaking the man’s hand. 

“Wilson Hendricks. I manage the security at this facility.” He led them to the lobby of the biggest building, the room filled with gaudy overstuffed chairs and round tables. “If you wouldn’t mind waiting here, I’ll get the employee list you requested and reserve a conference room for you to conduct interviews.” 

“Thanks,” Lisbon said, and the man promptly left. 

Jane had made himself at home on one of the chairs. “It’s nice to see people actually cooperating with the police, isn’t it?” he asked. 

She murmured her agreement. 

They weren’t waiting long before Hendricks reappeared with a manila folder in his hand. “This here’s the list of everyone who works for the company. People who were associated in any way with Callie are highlighted. Now if you’ll follow me, we’ll go to conference room four so you can begin. If you need any help, just let me know.” 

Hendricks led them to an open room with wide windows. “Make yourself at home. I’ll be just outside, and if you need to talk to anyone on that list I’ll go and find them for you.” 

“Thanks for your help, Mr. Hendricks,” Lisbon said. 

Jane sat next to her as she pulled up the photo of the guest list that Van Pelt had texted her. He marked off every name that matched on both lists. By the end, there were about twenty names. Wilson Hendricks called them in one by one, and after initial questioning, they had narrowed it down to about five suspects. The other matching names on the lists either hadn’t talked to Callie at the party or didn’t work closely enough with her. New list in hand, Lisbon gave Hendricks the names and he brought them in one at a time. 

“Ms. Harvey, please give us your full name and connection to the victim,” Lisbon said, wishing Cho were here to conduct interviews. 

“Um, okay. My name is Sarah Harvey, and I’m Mrs. Dover’s assistant. I handle her meetings and press conferences mainly, but I help her with whatever she needs.” 

The woman was clearly nervous, and Jane took note of that. 

“Where were you on the night of the company benefit, Ms. Harvey?” Lisbon asked. 

Sarah Harvey shifted in her seat. “I was there. At the party. I was overseeing the auction, and it was my job to make sure that Mrs. Dover got there on time. Of course, I wasn’t aware…” she trailed off. 

“What weren’t you aware of?” Jane asked curiously. 

“I wasn’t aware that Mrs. Dover had gotten to the party at all. I didn’t see her once throughout the night. Of course, there was an outrage over the fact that she didn’t make it to the auction. She did have the necklace on her person, after all.” 

Lisbon wrote that down in her notepad. “Interesting. Can anyone account for your movements between eleven and one that evening?” 

Sarah cast her eyes nervously towards the floor. “I was at home.” 

“Were you alone?” Jane asked. “It seems like someone with your job would have stayed to help sort out the aftermath of the party.” 

“I left early,” Sarah said, her voice trembling. “I had gone home with a man. He can back up my story.” 

“You seem scared, Sarah,” Jane observed. “Was it wrong for you to be with this man?” 

“Well, yes,” Sarah admitted. “He’s head of security here, and it would have put him in a bad light if it was made public that he left early.” 

“Mr. Hendricks?” Lisbon asked, one eyebrow raised. 

“Yes. That’s who I was with.” 

“Can you come in here for a second, Mr. Hendricks?” Lisbon called out the door. 

“Is something wrong?” He asked, sitting down next to Sarah Harvey. 

Lisbon sighed. “Mr. Hendricks, Sarah here told us that she was with you at the time of the murder. Can you confirm this story?” 

“Yes. We were together, at her house. She and I left the party around ten-thirty, and we didn’t come back that night.” 

“Thank you both for your time,” Lisbon said, effectively dismissing them.   
____________________________________________________________________________

Back in Sacramento, Van Pelt, Rigsby, and Cho were deciding whose cars to bring to Santa Maria. Each of them had gone home and grabbed the things they would need for a couple of nights away, and Grace packed up anything she would need to set up a mobile tech center. Bags in hand, the three of them walked to the parking lot and divided themselves between Cho’s car and Rigsby’s. Unsurprisingly, Cho had ended up alone in his car. Not that he minded, it would be nice to have a little peace and quiet for once. 

Grace threw her bags into the back of Rigsby’s SUV and climbed into the passenger seat. Briefly, she wondered if it would be easier to just go with Cho. She knew that Rigsby had feelings for her, he had told her so on a couple of different occasions. Once, after a case, she had kissed him, but it didn’t go any further than that and neither of them wanted to complicate things further. It was unwise to try and be together, and more than that, it was against the rules. Logically, Grace knew and understood the boundaries of the rules, but it was hard sometimes to not think of what it would be like to be in a relationship with him. He was sweet and he genuinely cared for her, something her previous boyfriends hadn’t necessarily done. She realized that she wanted to be in the car with him on the trip to Santa Maria after all. What’s the worst that could happen? 

Rigsby got in the car next to her, surprised to see her there. 

“Oh hey, Grace,” he stammered. “I thought you were going with Cho?” 

“No, I thought I’d keep you company. Besides, Cho doesn’t like to talk much, he’d make a boring road trip partner,” she said, flashing him a smile. 

“Sounds good to me. Let’s get going.” 

The SUV followed Cho’s car out of the CBI lot and they were on their way. 

____________________________________________________________________________

The second suspect on Lisbon’s list had passed questioning without raising any suspicion. Jane had suggested that it would be good to reconvene with the team after talking to one more person and coming back with Cho the next day to get the last couple of statements. Lisbon guessed that he was either up to something or was itching to get out of the stuffy office building they had been sitting in for most of the day. Both options were plausible, and she wanted to go over the facts of the case again with the rest of her team anyways, so she agreed. It was late afternoon anyways, and Lisbon was exhausted. The last person they decided to interview was Chloe Slater, the victim’s head sales representative. 

“Can you tell me why I’m here?” Chloe asked, sitting down across from Lisbon and Jane. 

Lisbon cleared her throat. “Ma’am, you’re here because you talked to Callie Dover at the party. That makes you one of the last people to see her alive. We need to get a statement and a confirmation of your movements from that night.” 

Tears welled up in the woman’s eyes. “Of course I talked to her. Callie and I were quite close. We’ve known each other since college, been best friends ever since.” 

“Did the fact that she was higher up in the company ever bother you or disrupt your friendship?” Lisbon asked carefully. 

“No. God no, of course not.” Silent tears ran down Slater’s face. “She was my best friend. Our personal relationship and professional relationship were kept separate.” 

At this, Lisbon subconsciously glanced at Jane. He tried not to flinch.

“When did you last see her at the party?” Lisbon continued, unaware of Jane’s discomfort. 

“Let me see…” Chloe dabbed at her eyes with a tissue. “Um, she got there around eight when the benefit started. She was wearing a gorgeous new dress with that necklace. I was so jealous.” Chloe’s voice broke then, sobs racking her body. “I guess I can’t be jealous anymore.” 

“You seem somewhat flippant. Are you aware that you’ve avoided the question here?” Jane observed, earning him a smack on the arm from Lisbon. 

Slater looked at Jane, fire in her eyes. “Are you aware that my best friend just died, Mr…”

“Jane. It’s Patrick Jane.” He supplied helpfully.

“Well then, Patrick,” she sneered. “Shouldn’t a woman be allowed time to grieve? I can’t expect you to understand, you self righteous bastard!” 

Another wave of hurt flashed across Jane’s features. “I can assure you, Miss Slater, that I understand more than most people you’ll talk to.” 

“Really?” she asked, the sobs quickly giving way to anger. “And why exactly is that?” 

“My wife and child were murdered by a serial killer,” Jane said icily. 

Lisbon had to intervene before things got worse. “Miss Slater, I’m sorry if we caused you any trouble. We still haven’t collected your statement, but we’ll be back tomorrow to talk to a couple more people. If you would prefer, we can continue the interview then.” 

“I would like that. Until tomorrow then,” Chloe Slater said, throwing her tissue away and quickly exiting the room. 

Lisbon and Jane were on their way back to the car. She had told Hendricks about the situation, and that they would be returning the next day to look through the victim’s belongings and talk to a few more witnesses. 

“Van Pelt just texted. She booked us some rooms at a hotel downtown. She’s meeting us there along with Rigsby and Cho. We had better get going,” Lisbon said.

Jane mumbled something under his breath as she started the car. 

Pulling out of the complex, Lisbon asked, “Do I want to know what you just said?” 

“I said I was wondering how Rigsby survived the ride here,” Jane said charmingly.

“Oh yeah? Why exactly would he not?” Lisbon asked, alarmed. 

Jane chuckled and shrugged. “Oh come on, Lisbon. Everyone knows that he’s in love with Grace.” 

“Clearly not everyone.” 

“You didn’t know?” Jane asked, genuinely surprised. “I thought it was common knowledge by now.” 

“No, Jane, I didn’t know. He had best not act on those feelings if he values working in this unit. Legally, I have to report these kinds of relationships. And besides, how do you know Grace didn’t ride here with Cho?” Lisbon asked, wishing for a moment that she could observe people as well as Jane. 

“It’s just a hunch.” 

“Are you willing to put money on it?” She asked jokingly.

“Sure. Ten bucks says Grace rode in Rigsby’s car.” 

“You’re on.”   
____________________________________________________________________________

Grace thought that the long car ride had passed rather pleasantly. Rigsby had turned on the radio a couple of times, both of them feeling too awkward to sing along at first. But eventually, a song came on that they both knew by heart, and Grace decided she couldn’t just listen to it without humming along. Rigsby overheard her and began to sing in an off-key tune, easing the tension enough so that she joined in. 

Most of the conversation they had was between songs. Wayne wanted to know all about the trouble Grace got up to with her cousins when she was younger, and Grace was happy to regale him with some stories. She knew that Rigsby hadn’t had such a happy childhood, and she was glad that he was able to live vicariously through her tales of mischief.

She told him about the time that her cousin Yolanda convinced her to take one of the hens out of the coop and put it in her grandmother’s linen closet. The time they hatched a plan to hide in the back of Grace’s mother’s car when she went shopping so that she had no choice but to take the girls with her. 

Grace had just finished telling him a story about how she had found a pair of shears in the bathroom closet when she was in elementary school and decided to give herself and her cousin an impromptu haircut, much to her mother’s disappointment. She noticed that they had pulled off the road and were making their way through downtown Santa Maria to the hotel they would be staying at. 

“Grace Van Pelt, I never would have pegged you for such a troublemaker,” Rigsby said, shaking his head and laughing. 

“Well, you know. Small town, there wasn’t much else to do anyway,” Grace said, suddenly shy. 

“It sounds like you really were quite the tiny terror. I can’t imagine your parents had an easy time raising you,” he mused. 

“They really didn’t. My dad was away a lot for work, and my poor mother had to work so hard to keep me from getting into things I shouldn’t.” Grace laughed. “Luckily for her, I had mostly grown out of it by high school. I guess I was more interested in other things.” 

“Like boys?” Rigsby teased good-naturedly.

“I guess,” Grace said, a pretty blush settling over her face. 

They pulled into the parking lot of the hotel and Cho showed up a few minutes later. While the three of them were grabbing their bags, Lisbon’s SUV rumbled into the lot, parking next to Cho. Jane and Lisbon got out of the car with their bags and went over to greet the rest of the team. 

“It’s really good to see you guys,” Lisbon said. 

After a chorus of “hellos” from everyone, they went to check in at the desk. Everyone had their own room, Lisbon noticed thankfully. The guys were across the hall, rooms 127, 129, and 131. Van Pelt and Lisbon’s rooms were separate, but they were adjoining, divided by a door. They paused in the hallway, each going to their own room. 

“I was going to do a case briefing tonight, but I’m too damn tired. We’ll meet back up tomorrow morning and go over the suspect list again. Goodnight guys,” Lisbon said. 

Everyone called out their goodbyes and disappeared into the rooms. Lisbon shut her door tightly behind her and flopped down on the bed, thankful for a Jane-free evening.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope y'all enjoyed! I think we all know that Lisbon won't be able to have a peaceful evening to herself, no matter how much she wishes she could! :) Next chapter is going to be less case centric, more fluff ahead!


	5. Affection and Affirmation

Lisbon sank into the fluffy hotel bed, grateful to finally be able to lay down. She was exhausted from conducting interviews all day and was ready to shower and go to sleep, if she could. A knock on the door separating her bedroom from Van Pelt’s brought her out of her morose train of thought. 

“Boss?” Grace called from the other side of the door. 

“Hang on, let me unlock my side.” Lisbon dragged herself off the bed and over to the door, opening it to Grace. “You can come in if you want,” she offered. 

“Thanks,” Grace said, grabbing a few things out of her bag. “I brought these for you. We’re probably different sizes, and I’m not sure what exactly you needed so I grabbed a few different things out of my drawer. I hope I’m not overstepping here,” she said, looking down at her shoes. 

Lisbon gratefully accepted the clothes and was happy to see that there were extra shirts and tank tops as well as a couple of pairs of pants that would serve well for when she was off-duty. She realized that she and Grace weren’t built the same, but Lisbon knew that having these clothes was a better alternative than only having one extra set. 

“Of course you’re not overstepping. Grace, thank you.” Lisbon pulled the taller girl into a fierce hug. “Besides, if I caught Jane staring at me in those leggings one more time, I swear I would have punched him.” 

At this, Grace looked confused. “I’m sorry, did I miss something?” 

“Nothing important.” Lisbon seemed a little uncomfortable but decided to explain to Van Pelt what had happened. “Jane and I had to share a room at the motel last night because they only had one left.” 

“Oh,” Grace said, turning red. “That must have been awkward.” 

“You have no idea,” Lisbon muttered. “And then the stupid power went out and we were stuck in the dark. Thank God we don’t have to stay there again.” 

“To be honest, when I got your call I thought you guys had closed the case. I was a little afraid you weren’t going to call us out here to help. I’m glad you aren’t working this one all by yourselves, even if it does require us to be out here for a couple of days,” Grace said sweetly. 

“You don’t mind?” 

“Of course not. I don’t think any of the team really minds, it’s good to get out of the office. Even if most of our time is spent on interviews and paper trails, a change of scenery is always a good thing.” 

‘That’s true. Listen, I’d really appreciate it if you didn’t tell Rigsby and Cho that Jane and I had to share a room. Lots of people already think that I take it too easy on him anyway, and I don’t need this to get out and make those rumors worse,” Lisbon explained. 

“Sure, boss. I won’t say anything.” 

“Thanks. I’m going to shower and change so I can go to bed. Try to get some rest, okay? I have a feeling tomorrow’s going to be a long day.” 

“Sounds good. Goodnight, boss,” Grace said as she closed and locked the separating door. 

Returning to her room, Van Pelt decided that she would set up her computer before getting ready for bed. There was a small table in the back corner of her room that would likely hold everything she had brought with her. Grace was the most technologically savvy member of the team, and they usually relied on her skills to back up investigations and run names through the CBI database. 

There wasn’t much to set up all things considered, but she needed to connect her laptop to the portable router that they used when setting up command at a hotel. It was easier to use their own internet connection than to use the one provided with the hotel room. Grace also knew that they would likely be relocating to Sheriff Rydell’s local police station, but she wanted to have a setup going in her room in the case that they needed to check someone quickly. Once she established a secure and private connection to the internet, she checked her email one more time before shutting the laptop down for the night. 

_

Rigsby was flipping through channels on the TV in his room when someone knocked at his door. Sighing, he got up to open it and was surprised to see who was waiting.

“Grace?” 

“Hey. I’m sorry about this, but my shower’s not working, it’s only running cold water. Lisbon’s using hers, and I didn’t know who else to ask. Can I use yours?” She shifted a neat stack of clothing in her arms.

“Uh, yeah sure. It’s right here, the first door,” he stammered, ushering her into the room. 

Grace shot him a smile. “Thanks, by the way. I won’t be too long.” 

With that, she shut the door to the bathroom. Rigsby sat back down on the small couch, trying not to think about Grace. It was no secret that he liked her. She was a beautiful, intelligent woman and he admired her boldness. Not many people have the skills it takes to think on their feet out in the field, but even when she was still a rookie agent, she proved herself on many occasions. 

Wayne had tried several times to tell her how he felt about her, to no avail. They were constantly being interrupted, by other coworkers, by meetings or case briefings, or any other situation that could happen at the worst time. He wasn’t certain, but he thought that he had said that he loved her at one point, although he was so doped up on pain medication that everything was a bit fuzzy. Then there was the time that he was hypnotized, and well, he pretended that he didn’t remember what he did. The reality of it was that he knew exactly what had transpired between himself and Grace Van Pelt, and because she didn’t make a move or try to talk about it, he attempted to let it go. 

There was also the little issue of the “no fraternization” policy that the CBI held for its agents. The policy strictly prohibited relationships of any romantic nature between agents on the same unit, under threat of job relocation. Of course, there were loopholes, but it wouldn’t be easy to navigate while maintaining a calm exterior. 

Rigsby sat on his couch, absentmindedly watching a baseball game until he heard the bathroom door open. Grace walked into the main room wearing a pair of cropped leggings and a pale blue tank top. Her damp hair was pulled into a single braid, loose strands framing her face. Wayne wasn’t sure he had ever seen her look more beautiful than she did now. 

“Hey, uh, Grace,” he began. “Did you want to hang out here for a little bit? I’m just watching the game, and it’s not that late.” She looked at him curiously. “Unless you have other plans, of course.” 

“Sure. It’s not like I’m doing much of anything else tonight anyways,” Grace replied, smiling. 

She sat down on the couch next to him. It was a small sofa, and they were both fairly tall so the two ended up closer together than either of them had realized. Grace allowed her thoughts to wander as the two paid less attention to the game than either was willing to let on. 

“Which is your team?” Grace asked. 

“Giants, all the way. Eight world series titles are nothing to be shy about. I lose ten bucks if the Dodgers win this one though, Cho and I made a bet.” 

“Of course you did,” she said, laughing. 

He couldn’t resist teasing her a little. “Oh come on, I know you place a friendly wager every once in a while, don’t even try to lie to me.” 

“I would never dream of it,” she said, a gleam in her eye. “So yes, occasionally I’ll bet on things. Football games, mostly. I’m less familiar with baseball, so I’m not very good in that area of expertise.” She winced a little. 

“You okay?” 

“I’m fine. I just have a little bit of a headache. Before I came over here I took an aspirin, it just hasn’t kicked in yet.” Grace waved her hand. “Stress headaches, you know?” 

“Yeah. I get them too sometimes. Can I help?” he asked, concern in his voice. 

“I don’t think there’s a whole lot you can do. I just need to relax a little bit, and it should go away.” 

“Relaxing is good.” He tentatively reached out and moved her braid so that it rested over one shoulder. “May I?” 

“Mhmm. Go ahead,” she said softly. 

He gently placed his hands on her shoulders, applying pressure to the places where he felt tension. She wasn’t joking about feeling stressed if her muscles were any indication. Immediately she felt herself melt into his touch, leaning back against his body. His fingers never strayed from her shoulders and neck, rubbing small circles into the exposed skin. When he was finished, she felt much more relaxed. 

“Grace, I want to tell you something,” he said once he had moved his hands away from her shoulders. She had her head resting on his chest, her body nestled against his, the position comfortably intimate. 

“What’s going on, Wayne?” she asked with concern. 

“Nothing’s wrong. Just sitting here with you made me realize that I should say this again when I’m not high on painkillers,” he laughed nervously. “Grace, I love you. I’ve loved you from the first moment I met you. Screw the rules. Screw the CBI. I need you. Unless you stop me, I’m going to kiss you now.” The joking exterior from only a moment ago had been replaced with a smoldering intensity in his eyes.

“I’m not going to stop you.” 

Their lips met in an explosion of unsaid feelings. His hands were on her waist, holding her tight enough so that there was no way either could let go. She tangled her arms around his neck, pulling herself closer to him. The kiss was gentle and hesitant, as both took their time to pour all of their emotions into one gesture.

When they finally broke apart, they stared at each other in disbelief. 

“Wayne, what are we going to do about this?” Grace whispered against his lips, not wanting to ruin the moment yet scared of what would happen if they didn’t talk about it. 

“We’re going to do what we feel is right,” he answered, more confidently than he felt. “If we know that it’s right for us to be together, then we will be. Even if we have to keep it a secret for now.” 

“Okay.” Grace moved so that she was sitting with her back pressed to his chest, letting her head loll back against his shoulder. He slid his hands around her waist, just above the hips, and clasped them together over her stomach, holding her close. 

“This is nice,” he murmured against her neck. 

“It is. I like being held like this, it feels so safe,” she agreed. 

They sat like that for a while longer, astounded at how a simple admission of feelings had created a moment so sensitive and real.

“This feels...right,” she said.

“I’m all yours, Grace. I love you.” 

She pressed a chaste kiss to the corner of his lips. “It’s getting late. I should go, we have an early morning. Thank you for all of this.” 

“Of course.” He kissed her again, slowly and deliberately. “I’ll see you in the morning. Sleep well.” 

Grace walked back to her room, face glowing pink from the heat of the moment she had just experienced. Their secret was safe. She slid under the covers of the hotel bed, content to replay the events of the evening in her head until she fell into a fitful sleep. 

_

Lisbon laid in her bed, comfortable but with sleep just out of reach. She groaned and got up to turn on a light and grab the files from the Dover case out of her bag. Settling back down under the covers, she reviewed the evidence they already had, and reread transcripts of the interviews they had conducted. 

In her opinion, something about the timeline of events seemed off. Without the testimonies of the two other employees, they couldn't accurately place Callie's movements on the night of the party. She hoped that the house search and upcoming questioning would shed some light on the situation. 

A couple of hours passed as Lisbon stayed up reading files and background checks, desperate to get ahead on as much information as possible. Of course, it’s not like she could sleep if she tried, so there wasn’t much else to do. Once she had read and reread everything in the file, she grabbed a piece of paper and started to write a timeline. Suddenly, there was a knock on her door. She set the pen down, picked up her gun, and went to look through the peephole on the door. 

“What the hell?” she asked, throwing open the door and putting the gun back. “It’s two in the morning, what do you want?” 

“I, uh, couldn’t sleep,” Jane said, his face darkening in the dim light of the hallway. “I figured you’d be awake.” 

“You couldn’t have possibly known I was awake. What if you’d woken me up?” 

“Oh come on, I know you’ve been sitting on your bed reading case notes for the past couple of hours. Can I come in?” Jane pleaded. 

“Whatever.” 

Jane followed Lisbon inside and settled himself carefully on one of the empty chairs in the room. She put all of her loose papers back into the folder and set it on the nightstand, sitting back on her bed comfortably. 

“You owe me ten bucks,” Jane said, breaking the heavy silence. 

“You mean for the bet? I’ll pay you in the morning. I suppose you were right, and I should report it, but officially I don’t know anything so I’m not going to try and stop them,” Lisbon replied. 

“I’m sure they’ll tell you in time.” 

Lisbon noticed that Jane wasn’t making eye contact with her, and seemed to be much more focused on the floor than he was on their conversation, which was odd. Usually, he put a lot more effort into teasing her than he was now. 

“Jane, can I ask you something?” 

“You just did, but sure. Go ahead.” 

“Why did you come over here tonight?” she blurted.

“I thought you might like some company,” he said lamely. 

“Sheep dip,” she spat. “The truth, Jane. Tell me the truth.” 

“You want the truth?” 

She nodded gravely.

“Fine. I had a dream. Not the same one as usual, but it started out that way.” Jane dropped his hands to his lap, clasping and unclasping them nervously as he spoke. “The hallway, the note, and the door were all the same. But when I went into the room, it wasn’t them. It was you.” His eyes were glassy and he shot her a hollow look. “I had to make sure. I had to know that you were okay.” 

A lump formed in Lisbon’s throat. “Oh God. I’m sorry, Jane.” 

“Don’t be,” he said severely. “As long as you’re okay.” 

She hopped off the bed and walked over to him, pulling him to his feet and wrapping him in a tight embrace. He hesitated to reciprocate at first, hands moving limply to his sides. But as he realized that she wasn’t going to let go, he put his arms around her, holding her, feeling her pulse quicken. 

“You aren’t going to lose me,” she whispered, head buried in his shoulder. “I’m not going anywhere, I’m not leaving you, okay?” 

“Okay.” 

“I’m right here, Jane. It’s going to be alright.” 

They stayed in each other’s embrace for a long time before either of them decided to move away. It was Jane who pulled away first, not missing the sad look in Lisbon’s eyes. She saw the way his face had darkened as he told her about his dream, and couldn’t help wondering if there was some way she could have prevented it. 

“Lisbon, you need to get some sleep. I’m headed back to my room,” Jane excused himself before either of them did something they would regret. 

“Okay. Try to sleep, Jane.” 

“Only if you promise to rest too.” 

“I will,” she agreed. 

“Goodnight, Lisbon. Thank you for being here,” Jane said as he slipped out the door. 

Lisbon locked the door behind him and turned out the lights before crawling under the covers of the hotel bed. Knowing that he felt so protective of her did nothing to calm her racing heartbeat, and she lay thinking about him and the nature of their relationship for some time before falling into a restless sleep. 

Surely he didn’t feel the same way, did he?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for sticking with me! It's been a while since I've updated, school and work just got crazy. But my schedule has calmed down a bit, which means more time for writing! Hoping to update every 2-3 days. Also, the R/VP action in this chapter was requested by my sister, I'm hoping to continue developing their relationship through the rest of this fic. Thank you for all the lovely comments and kudos! It really keeps me motivated, you guys are the best! :)


	6. Pictures and Perpetrators

In the morning, the agents of the serious crimes unit met in their boss’ hotel room to review the facts of the case. Van Pelt had gotten the warrant to search Callie Dover’s house and office for the necklace, so they would spend most of the day sifting through piles of unfinished paperwork at her office and sorting personal belongings in her home. They also had to collect statements from the rest of the employees on Lisbon’s suspect list, so they decided to split up. 

Twenty minutes later, they found themselves sitting at a diner eating breakfast together. Lisbon couldn’t help but notice that Rigsby and Van Pelt had seemed a little bit uneasy when they had first met up that morning, but she had the common sense to not say anything to make it worse. She would deal with it when they got back to Sacramento. 

“Lisbon, did you sleep well last night?” Jane asked once he was finished amusing their waitress with a card trick. 

“Not as well as I would have liked, but good enough I guess,” Lisbon said, barely glancing up from her coffee. 

Van Pelt chimed in, “I think the hotel’s rather nice, actually.” 

“We’ve stayed in worse,” Cho said flatly. 

A silence fell over the table as no one knew how to respond to that. 

“Van Pelt, you’re a smart woman with good intentions,” Jane said, perking up as if he had an idea.

“Should I say thank you to that?” Grace responded quickly. 

“I only meant to compliment you. But I do have a question. If you were to be entrusted with a necklace worth tens of thousands of dollars and had to hide it in a pinch, where would you put it?” Jane said, leaning back in his chair. 

All eyes turned to Van Pelt as she hummed thoughtfully. “I suppose I would put it wherever it’s safest, as long as it’s still accessible. If I’m hiding it from a specific person, I would put it in the last place that person would look. But if I were hiding it just for the sake of it, then plain sight is always a good method.” 

“I would just keep it on my person so I could keep an eye on it,” Rigsby said jokingly. 

“That’s a really great way to get yourself killed,” Lisbon said, sarcasm dripping from her voice. 

Jane saw his opportunity and took it. 

“Lisbon, do you really think that’s what happened in this case?” 

“I never said that!” Lisbon protested. “We still don’t know all the facts, so we can’t go around making wild accusations.” 

“No one’s making accusations except you,” Jane said innocently. 

“It could be any number of things. Jealousy, money, revenge, any of the usual motives for a murder,” Rigsby pointed out. 

“Let’s not rule out the ex-boyfriend either,” Cho suggested. “Did the husband know what was going on between Callie and the gangster Ty Barrett?” 

“No. The husband denied any knowledge of his wife having had an affair,” Lisbon said. 

“Maybe we can have a little talk with Jack Dover. He might know something else about the letters besides what he told us last time,” Jane said. 

Once they had finished their breakfasts, they split up to cover more ground. Van Pelt and Rigsby went to search the victim’s office, Cho tagging along to conduct the remaining interviews. Jane and Lisbon headed back to the victim’s home to conduct a search. 

“Rigsby, once you finish up with the office, call Sheriff Rydell with the local PD and see if he knows anything about the security detail at the party,” Lisbon said before they left. 

“No problem, boss.” 

Lisbon took a deep breath and hoped that Jack Dover’s condition had improved slightly from the last time they had been there. If not, it was definitely going to be a long day.

_

After they had passed the security checks at Dover Aeronautics, the agents split up. Cho had gone to collect the last of the statements from the guests at the charity benefit, and Van Pelt had taken Rigsby with her to search Callie Dover’s office. Their presence made several of the employees uncomfortable, accentuated by their furtive glances and whispered gossip. 

Cho sat down in the conference room, tossing the case file onto the table in front of him. Chloe Slater, the victim’s best friend, sat in a chair across the room. 

“Miss Slater, I’m Agent Cho. I’m here to collect your official statement.” 

“Of course. The agents who were here yesterday told me that someone would come back to speak with me,” she said. 

“When was the last time you saw Callie Dover?” 

Slater paused, making direct eye contact with Cho. “I last saw her at the party. She was supposed to run the auction, and the necklace was with her.”

“Did you speak to her?” 

“Of course I did,” she said indignantly. “I told her she looked like she needed a drink. She seemed all keyed up. We had a couple of drinks, and then Callie said she had somewhere else to be. Ran off rather suddenly, I thought.” 

Cho took note of this. “Did she happen to mention where she was going?” 

“No. She just left. I assumed she was meeting up with someone, she kept looking at her watch. I would say I last saw her around nine-thirty.” 

“You knew the husband well,” Cho said directly. 

“Yes,” she said without hesitation. “Wonderful man, really. Took a chance in marrying Callie, I know his parents didn’t exactly approve. She didn’t have money, they met when she got out of college. She was young, naive, and dumb.” Chloe Slater twirled the ends of her hair around her fingers. “Don’t get me wrong. Callie and I were best friends, but even after years of her being married to Jack, she didn’t treat him the way he deserved.” 

“Miss Slater, thank you for your time. We’ll be in touch.” 

_

Van Pelt and Rigsby had taken the elevator to the victim’s office on the top floor. A wall of windows let light into the office, which looked as if it hadn’t ever been used. The top of the mahogany desk in the corner was completely clear of paperwork and personal effects, save for a company-issued laptop.

“Must be some strict company policy,” Rigsby commented upon seeing the bare office. 

“Is there anything in particular that we’re supposed to be looking for?” Van Pelt asked, taking the laptop off the desk and booting it up. 

“Anything connecting the victim to the theft of the necklace.” Rigsby moved to sift through the desk drawers. 

“Right.” Van Pelt sat in concentration as she made several vain attempts at guessing the laptop password. “We should probably bring this back with us. Checking the victim’s email might tell us who she was last in contact with.” 

“Okay,” Rigsby said, looking up from the desk. “Stop that.” 

“Stop what?” Grace asked, confused. “I’m not doing anything!” 

“You look really cute when you’re concentrating, and it’s hard to focus on what I’m doing when you’re sitting there making faces at that computer,” he said innocently. 

“Wayne, we are on duty. We can’t be doing this right now,” she protested. 

“You’re right. So stop distracting me and help me search this desk.” 

“Okay, Agent Rigsby,” she said playfully, putting an emphasis on his last name. 

_

Lisbon and Jane were greeted by Jack Dover at the door. 

"Agent Lisbon, I was unaware that you were returning," he said nervously. 

Lisbon sighed and pulled out the warrant. "Sir, we have a warrant to search the house for the necklace and anything connecting Callie's death with the theft." 

"Of course. Search all you like," he said, beckoning them into the foyer. 

Once they had found their way to the victim's bedroom, Jane tucked his hands into his pockets and walked the perimeter of the room. He looked at every picture, painting, and trinket before shifting his gaze to where Lisbon stood, searching through dresser drawers. 

A stray lock of hair fell in her eyes, and she swept it away with a huff. "Find anything remotely helpful, Jane?" she asked grouchily. 

"Our victim tried to play the part of the rich housewife, she was obsessed with fitting in. Favorite color is blue, and she liked going hiking. She often felt like her husband didn't appreciate her, and she went crawling back to that idiot ex-boyfriend of hers. They were planning to run away together after she stole the necklace from the auction." 

Lisbon's eyes widened. "Oh really. And how do you know she was going to run off?" 

"It's quite simple, Lisbon, really. I'm surprised you didn't notice it before." 

"Don't you patronize me, Jane!" Lisbon exclaimed. "Just tell me what you noticed." 

Jane beckoned her over to where he was standing in front of the open closet. "What do you see, Lisbon?" 

"The victim had a lot of money? The clothes are expensive and gaudy? I could go on." 

"Excellent observations, but no. What we are really looking for is what isn't there," he said with a flourish of his hands. "Look at how many empty clothing hangers there are. I would venture to guess that not all of those are at the dry cleaners. I'm willing to bet that if you looked under the bed, you would find a packed suitcase containing the missing clothes and several hundred dollars in cash." 

Lisbon knelt down and looked under the bed, pulling out a nondescript suitcase containing exactly what Jane had said it would. 

"Eureka!" Jane crowed happily. 

Lisbon dug through the suitcase, pulling out a stack of pictures tucked safely at the bottom. 

"Jane, you need to see this." Lisbon held up one photo, showing Jack Dover in a compromising position with a woman who looked suspiciously similar to Chloe Slater, the victim's best friend. 

"Well, looks like our man was hiding something after all," Jane quipped. 

They met up with Mr. Dover again in the living room, prepared for another round of questioning. 

"Mr. Dover, we have reason to believe you were having an affair with another woman," Lisbon started. 

He crossed his arms. "I'd like to see some proof. Is this a conversation I need to have my lawyer present for?" 

"Calling for a lawyer's presence at a simple questioning is a sign of guilt," Jane said quickly. 

Lisbon shot him a glare. "Sir, we're just trying to get the story straight. We do have proof if you need to see it." She slid the photo across the table towards Dover, who visibly paled.

"I'm not saying anything else until I have my lawyer. I'll walk you two out," he said angrily. 

Back in the car, Lisbon pulled out her phone and called Cho. 

"Cho...yeah, we’re leaving now. Get Rigsby and Van Pelt and meet us back at the hotel. Yeah, we’ll go over everything then.” She snapped her phone shut defensively.

They began the drive back to the hotel, Jane resting with the passenger seat reclined slightly.

“Penny for your thoughts,” Lisbon said, breaking the silence. 

Jane sat up. “Oh come on, Lisbon, you know my thoughts are worth much more than just one penny.”

She rolled her eyes. "Humor me."

Jane sat up and hummed thoughtfully. "He didn't do it." 

"Well, I think he's good for it. There's something wrong with the timeline, and the affair with Slater is suspicious. We need to get phone and email records to see who she was last in contact with." 

"Don't get all defensive, Lisbon. You asked for my opinion, and I'm giving it to you. Our victim was going to run off with an ex-boyfriend after the party that night. She disappeared before the auction, and witnesses can place Jack Dover there until late. He didn't commit the murder." 

With that, Jane switched the radio to some horrible pop music station and laid back down to go to sleep.

_

Back at the hotel, everyone had convened in Lisbon's room. 

"Boss, I've checked the victim's email and financials. Everything on her laptop is work-related, but her bank statements say that she was funneling a fair amount of money out each month and moving it to another account. It does support the fact that she was running away," Van Pelt explained. 

"Great," Lisbon said. "We talked to the husband today, and he practically admitted to having an affair with Chloe Slater. I showed him the photo, and he freaked out and said he needed his lawyer. Cho, what did you find out from her?" 

Cho sat up straighter and slid his notebook across the table to Lisbon. "Slater says she talked to the victim on the night of the party. She saw the victim run off around 9:30 after looking at her phone and guessed she was meeting someone. Slater left not long after the auction. She mentioned that she knew the husband rather well, it seemed as if their relationship was a little more than professional." 

"Well, that would explain the photos," Jane piped up from the couch. 

Rigsby looked confused. "But the necklace is still missing. Even if Slater or the husband killed Callie to hide their affair, why did they need the necklace? He was wealthy enough."

Lisbon groaned. "And that's another mystery. Van Pelt, check the company's financials. Bank records, stock exchanges, anything you can find, and get it to me as soon as you can. Rigsby, check on the victim's phone records. I want to know exactly who she talked to before she disappeared. Cho, you're coming with me." 

Jane sat up rather suddenly as Lisbon put on her coat and grabbed the keys. 

"Ah, Lisbon?"

"What?" 

"What do you want me to do?" he asked. 

Lisbon considered this. "So for once you actually want to work? Instead of just laying on the couch and taking a nap?" 

"Well, I just figured you could use some company," Jane said lamely. 

Lisbon smirked. "I have Cho. You stay here, and don't bother anyone, okay?" 

Before he could protest, the door slammed shut, leaving him to lay on the couch in Lisbon's room with nothing to do. Not wanting to be alone with his thoughts, he grabbed the pad of paper and pen from her nightstand and wrote a quick note, leaving it on her pillow. Satisfied with himself, he snuck into Van Pelt's room with the adjoining door. 

_

Lisbon and Cho were sitting in Sheriff Rydell's office talking over security details from the night of the party. 

"When your agent called earlier, I wasn't sure if you would be coming in. I have the tapes in our possession, we confiscated them from Dover Aeronautics after the murder. A couple of my men were watching the doors and handling bag checks, but anything other than that was covered by the company's private security department," the sheriff said. 

"Thanks. We need to watch the movements of our persons of interest, find out where Callie Dover went and who called her there," Lisbon explained. 

The footage ran from the beginning of the party until the end with no interruptions or outages. Just as she said, Chloe Slater had been talking to Callie at the bar for a little while before Callie answered her phone and rushed off suddenly. They were able to follow her via camera to a back hallway with a door leading outside. She seemed to be engaged in an argument with someone, but the camera's blindspot obscured their face from view. 

"Of course it wouldn't be this easy," Lisbon huffed. "When do we ever get a simple case?"

Cho looked at her sympathetically. "Did Chloe Slater stay behind after Callie left?" 

Sheriff Rydell played the tape back again, this time focusing on a different camera. Chloe had walked around talking to other people for about half an hour after she had last talked to Callie, but then she disappeared into the crowd when the auction began and they couldn't pick her up on the footage again after that. 

"And the husband?" Lisbon prompted. 

Jack Dover had been walking around talking to employees for the majority of the evening. He met up with Callie mid-evening and danced a few songs with her, before leaving again to dance with Chloe and several other women. They lost him in crowds while Callie talked with Chloe, but caught him again as he pulled his speech out of the jacket of his tuxedo and walked onstage. 

Lisbon wrote down all of the movements in her notebook before getting up. "Sheriff, thanks for your cooperation. There's not much else we can do with this right now, not until we get the phone records back from the company. I'll let you know if we need to look at these tapes again," she said, shaking his hand. 

On their way back out to the SUV, Lisbon's phone rang. 

"Lisbon." 

"Boss, it's Rigsby. I just got the victim's phone records. There were a lot of phone calls that were just for work, but I was able to trace the last person she talked to. The number belongs to Dover Aeronautics' head of security. I think you interviewed him yesterday." 

"Wilson Hendricks?" Lisbon said, unable to keep the surprise out of her voice. 

"Yeah, that's the guy. The last call our victim took was from his phone."

"Interesting. Nice work Rigsby. We'll go talk to him again tomorrow, round up Jane and Van Pelt, and meet us at the diner," Lisbon instructed. 

"Got it, boss." He hung up. 

_

Rigsby knocked on the door to Van Pelt's hotel room. To his surprise, Jane answered the door. 

"Jane? I thought Lisbon told you not to leave the room," Rigsby said, confused. 

"Not to worry, I left her a note," Jane said cheerily. "I've just been helping Grace here with the financial records. Well, less helping and more uh-" 

"Annoying?" Grace cut in. "You've done nothing but sit here and complain that you didn't get to go with Lisbon." 

"I may have been doing that, yes," Jane relented. 

Rigsby moved past Jane, leaning carefully against the small table in the corner of the room. Jane laid back down on the couch, creating a rather awkward atmosphere. 

Grace shut her laptop and looked over at Rigsby, causing him to blush and look down. This did not go unnoticed by Jane, however, who decided to make the situation worse. 

"Grace, tell me something. Did you ride up here in Rigsby's car or Cho's?" Jane asked. 

Van Pelt frowned, but curiosity got the best of her. "I went with Rigsby, although I don't see why it matters. Why do you ask?" 

"Because you have just won me ten dollars!" Jane exclaimed happily. 

Both agents blushed furiously and looked away from each other. Rigsby glared at Jane. 

"Who did you bet with? And why? Surely there are more important things to bet on than who goes in whose car," Rigsby spluttered. 

"I may have told Lisbon that I was willing to put money on the fact that Grace rode up here in your car." 

"How did you know?" Grace asked. 

"It's obvious. Everyone knows that you two have feelings for each other. You're only confirming my suspicions by not making eye contact with me." 

Grace laughed. "Jane, you're ridiculous, you know that?" 

Rigsby cleared his throat. "Um, that reminds me. Boss told us to meet her and Cho at the diner, they're probably waiting for us."

"Great. Let me grab my jacket, and let's go," Jane said, heading back to Lisbon's room both in search of his jacket and to give the two agents a moment alone. 

Their whispered conversation carried through the thin walls. 

"Do you think he'll say anything to Lisbon?" Rigsby asked. 

"He wouldn't. It's going to be okay, you know that," Grace responded.

"I guess. It's just, we didn't even make this official until yesterday, I don't want anything to come between us," he said, concern evident in his voice. 

"Wayne. We're going to be fine, okay? Stop worrying." 

Jane walked back to Van Pelt's room, jacket in hand. As he entered, both agents jumped apart conspicuously. 

"Ready to go?" Jane asked. 

_

A half-hour later, they were seated at the diner. Lisbon was drinking what was probably her fifth cup of coffee that day, and the mood was surprisingly cheerful. They had made good progress on the case that day, and everyone seemed happy, despite the fact that they were still out of town instead of back in Sacramento. 

After dinner, Jane suggested that they go out. 

"I saw a bar on the way here, is anyone interested in accompanying me for some drinks?" He asked.

Lisbon nodded. "I'm game."

"I could go for a beer," Rigsby said. 

With that, the team found themselves sitting in a booth at the bar Jane had chosen. Talking animatedly and engaged in a lively poker game, no one looking would know they were out on business. 

Jane set down his hand of cards with a flourish and everyone groaned. Lisbon was unsure why they even bothered playing card games with him in the first place, when they all knew that he kept track of where every card was at any given time. 

Rigsby set his beer bottle down loudly. "Man, if I knew how to do that, I'd be living in Vegas," he said, clapping Jane on the shoulder. 

"If I were living in Vegas, I'd be kicked out of nearly every casino in the city," Jane said jokingly. 

Van Pelt's eyes gleamed. "Remember that one case in Vegas when I first joined the unit?" 

Lisbon laughed. She had lent Jane one hundred dollars to play some games at the casino while they talked to the manager, and he had won so much money through card counting that he had been asked to leave. True to his word though, he had paid her back triple what he owed her. 

"You know, I still have that watch," Rigsby said. "Ugly as all get out, but expensive." 

Cho smiled almost imperceptibly at that and clinked his bottle against Rigsby's. 

Jane turned his attention to Lisbon. "Remind me again why you didn't keep your gift?" 

"It was too much, Jane," Lisbon explained. "Really, a lovely gift, but I couldn't keep it." 

"I knew those emeralds would look good with your eyes," Jane muttered. 

Lisbon blushed. She knew Jane didn't mean anything by it. He did this all the time, complimenting people enough so that they were transfixed by his charm. Well, Lisbon was already charmed by him, but she refused to let him see how much. 

"I'm going to call it a night," Lisbon said definitively. "Van Pelt, do you want a ride?"

"Sure, boss." 

Lisbon and Van Pelt headed back to their rooms, followed not long after by the rest of the teams. Lisbon changed into her borrowed pajamas and was about to lay down when she noticed a note on her pillow. It read:

Lisbon, 

When you get this note, come to my room. I need to talk to you.

u no hoo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Getting a little closer to wrapping up this case! I hope I threw you for a loop with this (at least a little bit!). What does Jane need to talk to Lisbon about? Hmmm...I won't keep you in suspense for too long! ;)


	7. Banking and Bitterness

Lisbon stared at the note in disbelief. Naturally, just when she was about to try and get some rest, Jane needed to talk to her. Maybe the note had been there earlier, but even if it was, she hadn’t noticed. Groaning, she stood up from the bed and dragged herself out of her room and across the hall to Jane’s. He answered on the first knock. 

“Ah, Lisbon. Here to see your favorite consultant?” he said, opening the door. 

“Here to see my favorite pain in the ass,” she grumbled. 

His eyes sparkled. “At least I’m your favorite,” he said as she pushed past him and into the room, flopping down on a chair. 

Jane ran his hand through his hair nervously. “I was going to make some tea. Would you like any?” 

“Sure.” 

A few moments later, he handed her a cup of steaming tea. Lisbon tentatively took a sip. Chamomile. She should have guessed. Jane perched on the end of the bed, drinking deeply from his own cup. Clearly, he wasn’t going to explain himself. 

Lisbon cleared her throat. “What is this about, Jane? You said you needed to talk to me.” 

“I see you’ve found the note.” 

“Yeah, real funny,” Lisbon mumbled. “U no hoo.” 

Jane laughed. “I aim to please. Anyways, I did want to talk to you about something.” 

“Is it case related?” 

“Yes and no,” Jane said slowly. “I have a couple of ideas about our killer. But I also wanted to talk about something else.” He subconsciously twisted the wedding band on his ring finger. 

“Start with the case. What are you thinking?” Lisbon asked gently, acutely aware of the fact that Jane was stalling. 

“I’m thinking that the security guy, Wilson Hendricks, had nothing to do with it.” 

Lisbon scoffed. “Oh really? It’s just some crazy coincidence that he was the last person to call the victim?” 

“Crazy, yes. Coincidence, no.” Jane said, sitting back and finishing the rest of his tea. 

“So then why did he call? Phone records prove that she ran off when her phone rang, why would he tell her to go to that back hallway? It doesn’t make sense,” Lisbon insisted. 

“It doesn’t make sense with the evidence you have,” Jane retorted. “But I’m sure there’s a good reason for her being in that hallway at that specific time. You just haven’t realized it yet.” 

Lisbon rolled her eyes. “Come on, Jane. What evidence do you have that I don’t?” 

“Oh, plenty of things,” he said nonchalantly. “I’m quite observant, you know. You’ll catch up eventually.” 

“Why can’t you just tell me?” Lisbon said, raising her voice slightly. 

“Because, Lisbon, because. I can’t tell you because there isn’t any physical evidence to support my theory, and you won’t approve of my ideas on how to get that evidence.” 

Lisbon raised an eyebrow in annoyance. “Jane, you had better not be doing something that will get me in trouble.” 

“Why would you be in trouble for something I do wrong?” 

“Because I always am, Jane!” Lisbon cried. “Every time you do something out of line, I have to clean it up! I’m always picking up the pieces, Jane, and I don’t think you understand how much I do for you!” She stood up and moved so that she was facing him, hands balled into fists at her sides. “Do you have any idea how fast you would have gotten fired if it weren’t for me? They would have dragged your sorry ass off this team a long time ago if I hadn’t been there to defend you!” 

“I’m sorry,” Jane said softly. 

“No, you aren’t! You haven’t ever been sorry for anything in your life! Your performance doesn’t only reflect on you, it reflects on all of us. We have reputations too, Jane! I’m not always going to be here to clean up the messes you’ve gotten yourself into!” Lisbon yelled. 

Jane placed both hands on her hips, pulling her closer to him. “I thought you said you weren’t going anywhere.” 

“I-” Lisbon stopped, suddenly aware of how close they were to each other. “I’m not going anywhere. It’s just-” 

“I know,” Jane interrupted. “You’re upset. I get it. You have every right to be. I just wanted to tell you how much I truly appreciate everything you do.” 

“Jane,” Lisbon whispered, not moving out of his grasp. 

“No, let me finish,” he said. “I care about you, probably more than I should. You’re the only person I trust with everything. I know you don’t judge me because of my past, and you try to make me a better person than I am.” 

Lisbon’s breath hitched. Wasn’t this exactly what she wanted? For Jane to express his true feelings for her? If it was, why did she feel so conflicted? 

“Well, maybe I’m not a good person,” he continued. “Maybe it doesn’t matter what you see in me, maybe I’ll never change. But goddamn it, I want to. I hope you realize that I’m always going to be there for you,” he said, voice breaking. “You’re my better half, my whole reason for living. Lisbon, you saved my life.” 

Lisbon froze, taken aback by his confession. 

“The last time I felt this way about someone, well, you know what happened. I loved them more than anything in this life, and they died because of me. I won’t make that mistake again,” he said, eyes swimming with unshed tears. 

“Jane, I don’t know what you want me to say,” Lisbon murmured. 

“You don’t have to say anything,” he breathed. 

“Then what-” 

He leaned in, pulling her to him and meeting her lips with his own. Her eyes flew open at the sudden contact, and she wanted to pull away but couldn’t find the strength. This is what she wanted, wasn’t it? His hands moved to cup her face, hesitantly breaking the kiss. 

Lisbon stepped out of his reach. “Jane, what is this?” 

“I shouldn’t have done that. I went about this all wrong. Lisbon, I was trying to show you how much I care, and I’ve messed it up,” he said hollowly. 

She could see the vulnerability fade away as he put his defenses back up. He had always hidden under a sort of mask, a facade that anyone on the outside couldn’t tell was fake. But she knew. 

“Jane, don’t shut me out,” Lisbon pleaded. “Let me help you.” 

“I shut everyone out. Don’t take it personally, Lisbon.” He laughed bitterly. “It’s easier like this, trust me.” 

“Jane,” she said, her emotions betraying her. “You have no idea how much I want something like this, with you.” He met her gaze. “But I can’t.” 

“Why not?” 

“I can’t be with you when you’re still in love with her.” 

Jane recoiled as if he had been slapped, and her heart sunk. Lisbon knew what she had just done, and she wasn’t sure if they would ever recover from this. 

“Jane, I-” 

“Don’t,” he said severely. 

“I should go.” She opened the door. “Goodnight, Jane.” 

Lisbon lay back in her bed, pulling the covers around her tightly. Her shoulders shook slightly as she tried not to imagine what Jane was feeling at that moment. She wanted what Jane was offering, she wanted it so badly. To be able to be in a relationship with the man who drove her crazy and yet showed that he cared about her more than anyone else. But Lisbon knew at the same time that she would never be first in his heart, so she had to refuse him. Sleep claimed her gently, leaving her alone with the swirling thoughts in her head. 

_ 

Rigsby woke up to someone knocking at his door. He opened the door, and standing there was Grace, holding two cups of coffee. 

“Good morning!” She said brightly. 

He groaned and took the cup she handed to him. “What time is it?” he asked groggily, letting her into the room.

She blushed prettily, noticing that he was not yet ready for work. “It’s only seven, but I was already up, and-” 

He cut her off with a kiss. “Thank you,” he said, running a hand through his disheveled hair. “I’m gonna, uh, I guess I’m going to go get dressed.” 

“Sure,” Grace said, perching on the end of his bed and pulling out her phone. “I’ll be out here.” 

When he came back into the main room, he sat down next to her, wrapping his arms around her waist and effectively pulling her into his lap. Grace sighed contentedly and leaned back, her head against his chest. 

“Is the boss okay?” Rigsby asked suddenly. 

“I don’t know. When I talked to her yesterday she seemed fine,” Grace said, concern in her voice. “Why?” 

“I heard her yelling at Jane last night,” Rigsby confessed. “I wasn’t trying to, but the walls are thin and Jane’s room is right next to mine.” 

“She always yells at Jane,” Grace said plainly. 

“I know that, but this seemed a little bit more, uh, angry than usual. I just figured I’d check and see if you had noticed anything.” 

“Nothing out of the ordinary,” Grace said reassuringly. She knew how much it bothered him when people within the team got into fights. He pressed soft kisses to her neck and she laughed. 

“Come on, we should probably get going.” 

_

Jane raised an eyebrow at Rigsby and Van Pelt as they walked in together for the briefing. The team had elected to meet up in Lisbon’s room to talk over what they had learned, but all that was decided before Jane and Lisbon had gotten into a fight. There was palpable tension in the air, anyone could feel it, and not the usual suggestive tension that seemed to follow Jane wherever he went. This was different, almost stifling. 

Rigsby leaned against a table as he made direct eye contact with Van Pelt across the room. They both seemed to be thinking the same thing: he had been right. Grace didn’t know for sure what had happened, but what she did know was that if it kept up, it would interfere with the case. Lisbon always told them to keep their personal drama out of the office, and as much as she was a stickler to that rule, it seemed as if she was breaking it unintentionally. 

Without so much as a glance at Jane, who happened to be sprawled out on the tiny couch, Lisbon cleared her throat and started in on the notes. “Van Pelt, what did you hear back on the financials?” 

“The warrant finally went through and the bank contacted me again last night. Callie Dover’s personal financial record certainly looks as if she was planning on running. She moved most of the money to a cash transfer bank and we lost the trail there. She was steadily moving invested assets to other companies, smaller and riskier businesses to invest in,” Van Pelt reported. 

“How long has this been happening?” Rigsby asked. 

“From what I could tell, she started moving money a couple of months ago. There was one other odd thing, though. One transaction showed that she paid twenty thousand dollars to an offshore account belonging to a Richard Felix. I checked though, and there isn’t anyone by that name in our databases.” 

“Interesting,” Cho remarked. “What about the company’s record?” 

“I ran those too,” Van Pelt said. “The bank records say that the company was defaulting on their loan payments going back a couple of months. There’s been a decline in revenue since the company first opened, and cash flow says that it’s not stopping anytime soon. My guess is that Jack Dover knows his company is going under, and he can’t do anything about it.” 

Jane sat up. “Interesting that one of the most prominent aerospace engineering companies in the country is suddenly having financial problems.”

Lisbon grabbed the papers from Van Pelt. “By the looks of this, it had been happening for a while now, and nobody besides Dover knew.” 

“Do you think Jack Dover is going to make a run for it?” Rigsby asked. 

“It’s definitely a possibility,” Lisbon said truthfully. “By the way, we found out yesterday that Jack Dover and Chloe Slater were having an affair.” 

“The victim’s best friend?” Van Pelt asked in surprise. 

“Yeah, her. Jane and I searched the house yesterday,” Lisbon said, glaring at the man laying on the couch. “It seems that the victim knew about the affair and wanted to get away, so she was running back to her old boyfriend.” 

“When I talked to Slater earlier, she said that she only saw Callie at the bar and that she took a call and ran off,” Cho observed. 

Rigsby perked up. “I got the victim’s phone records back yesterday. The last person to call her was Wilson Hendricks, the company’s head of security.” 

“Hendricks has a solid alibi,” Lisbon protested. 

“I, for one, don’t think Hendricks was involved in the murder. I think he was played,” Jane argued. 

“How?” Van Pelt asked. 

“When we watched the security tapes, did you see how close that back hallway was to one of the outer exits? It was the same one the caterers used to go in and out. I’m thinking someone propped the door,” Jane pointed out. 

Without stopping to acknowledge Jane’s help, Lisbon ordered Cho and Jane to go back to the crime scene and search for any evidence of a van having been there. 

“Rigsby, Van Pelt, you’re with me. We’re going to talk to Jack Dover.” 

_

It was a short and quiet ride to the crime scene, Jane only asking to turn the radio to a less annoying station. Cho had noticed that he seemed deep in thought about something, and the way he was messing with his wedding ring wasn’t indicative of good things. 

Kimball Cho wasn’t stupid, no one would make that argument once and live to make it again. And as much as he usually stayed out of office drama, he couldn’t help but notice the change in Lisbon’s interactions with Jane that morning. Usually, the two of them were ridiculously flirty, not that Cho would ever let on that he cared, but today they both seemed somber and buzzing with tension. As if it wasn’t enough that he was tasked with Jane-wrangling for the duration of the search, he also had to deal with Jane’s moody attitude. 

Jane slammed the door of the sedan shut, satisfied with the noise. “Shall we?” He asked, rubbing his hands together. 

Cho sighed. Why did Lisbon have to pair him up with Jane? He would have gladly taken Rigsby with him or even Van Pelt. 

They followed the trail to the dumpsite, making sure to keep an eye on the ground as they searched for anything connecting a vehicle to the scene. Cho heard Jane yelling from several yards ahead. 

“What’s this?” Jane asked loudly. 

Making his way over, Cho looked at the tiny object Jane held in his hand. “Looks like a valve cap,” Cho observed. 

“I bet that if we were to look at the caps on the rest of the vans, they would be exactly the same,” Jane said. 

“You’re probably right,” Cho admitted. “Most valve caps are the same size anyways, but usually they’re black. This one’s yellow, so it shouldn’t be too hard to find a match.” 

Cho pulled out his phone and called Lisbon, dutifully informing her of what they found. When he hung up, he called to Jane. 

“Lisbon says to go check out the caterer. We can check the cap for a match, and see if any of the vans are unaccounted for.” 

Back in the car, Jane leaned his seat back and closed his eyes. Cho shook his head, secretly hoping that Jane would be able to work out whatever was happening between him and Lisbon. The team couldn’t keep walking on eggshells like this forever, could they? Defeatedly, he turned the radio back on and drove off. 

_

Lisbon could feel a shift in the atmosphere on the ride to the husband’s house. Something was definitely going on between Rigsby and Van Pelt, but Lisbon was all too content to blame it on the stress of the case. Whatever it was, as long as they kept it out of the office, she didn’t want to know. 

“Boss, if you suddenly found yourself in possession of a necklace worth seventy-five thousand dollars, what would you do with it?” Rigsby mused. 

“I’m not sure,” Lisbon answered slowly. “It’s purely hypothetical, of course, but I guess I would use the money to pay off rent for a while and invest whatever’s left.” 

Van Pelt nodded. Lisbon was ever the logical one. Rigsby turned his attention to her. “What would you do with it, Grace?” 

“I’d probably move into a much nicer apartment,” Van Pelt said, laughing. “What about you?” 

“I would buy a Corvette,” Rigsby said seriously. 

Lisbon was trying hard not to laugh at the idea of Rigsby driving a Corvette. He would hit his head trying to get out of the car! She shook her head as Van Pelt giggled, likely picturing something along the same lines. They pulled up to the Dover residence and Lisbon instructed Rigsby to stay in the car and touch base with Jane and Cho while she and Van Pelt went to talk to Jack Dover. 

Lisbon found herself sitting in Jack Dover’s living area once again, grateful that Van Pelt was there to lend a fresh viewpoint on things. He seemed on edge today, more so than the previous times Lisbon had talked to him. 

“Mr. Dover, are you aware that your company was struggling financially?” Lisbon asked. 

“Yes,” the man sighed. “I am. We were trying to keep it under control as much as possible so we didn’t have to lay people off. The economy’s hitting everyone hard, and we already had to cut hourly wages and reduce overtime. I didn’t want to be the reason people lost their jobs.”

“Who else knew about this?” 

“It was only me, my wife, and a team of financial analysts,” Dover answered after a moment of consideration. 

Lisbon decided to switch tactics. “Your wife found out that you were intimately involved with another woman. A woman who happened to be her best friend. Did she confront you?” 

“No! I didn’t even know that she found out until you showed me that photo.” 

Van Pelt sat forward curiously. “What do you know about Wilson Hendricks?”

“Hendricks?” Dover asked, surprise in his voice. “He’s our head of security for the company. His men were detailing the charity benefit on the night Callie was killed. Any incidents reported would go directly to Callie and me from him.” 

“And were there?” Lisbon asked harshly. 

“Were there what?” 

“Any incidents,” she said, rolling her eyes. 

Dover sat back in thought. “There’s only one thing I can think of. I got a call saying that a door had been propped open on the east side of the building. The same exit the caterers used to go in and out. Hendricks assumed they had left it like that so that it wouldn’t lock, but he asked me to go take a look at it just in case.” 

Lisbon nodded. “Did you go?” 

“No, I had other things to attend to. I told him to ask Callie to take a look instead. When Hendricks did a pass over that exit the next time, the door was closed. I assume that Callie took care of the situation.”

“Damn,” Lisbon said under her breath. 

“Thanks for your time,” Van Pelt said. 

Back in the car, Rigsby updated them on what Jane and Cho had found out from talking to the caterer. 

“Jane found a valve cap at the scene. They were able to match it to the valve covers on the caterer’s van. The company owner says that one van was missing for some of the night, but was returned to the parking lot in the morning,” Rigsby explained. 

“Interesting,” Lisbon said. 

“Also, Jane suggested that we check the husband’s financials, but he didn’t tell me why.”

“Well that’s nothing new,” Lisbon remarked. 

Van Pelt raised an eyebrow at Lisbon’s apparent lack of enthusiasm in their new lead. 

“What did you find out from the husband?” Rigsby asked, all too aware that he had struck a nerve in mentioning Jane. 

Van Pelt glanced up. “He was having an affair, but he didn’t know he had been found out. We were right about the company though, no one besides him, the victim, and their financial analysts knew how much trouble the company was in.” 

Lisbon groaned. “We might as well head back so you can look into the husband’s bank records. As much as I don’t want to get involved in any of Jane’s plans, it can’t hurt to take a look.”

_

Jane and Cho made it back to the hotel well after the rest of the team. Making himself right at home, he sprawled out on the couch in the corner of Lisbon’s room. There was nothing left to do but wait for Van Pelt to confirm what he already knew. 

Lisbon looked up from the reports she was reading when Cho came in.

“We can safely place one of the caterer’s vans at the crime scene. Trace evidence of blood was found in the back,” Cho reported. 

“The killer must have transported the victim’s body in the van,” Lisbon said. “Were there any fingerprints?” 

Cho shook his head. “Wiped clean.” 

“But surely the security camera footage can show us who was in the van,” Rigsby pointed out. 

Lisbon rubbed her temples. “Not likely. That side of the parking lot is in a blindspot, same as the back hallway where the victim was last seen.”

“Which means our suspect has to have a good idea of where security cameras and personnel would be during the party,” Rigsby observed. 

“Does the head of security have an alibi?” Cho asked. 

“Unfortunately, yes,” Lisbon replied, standing up to pace the room. “A witness can place him with her at the time of the murder.” 

“Hey, boss?” Van Pelt called from the next room over. 

Lisbon looked over Grace’s shoulder at the computer screen. “Oh god,” she breathed. 

“What is it?” Rigsby looked confused. 

“The husband’s bank account was just emptied. All the money transferred to an untraceable account somewhere. I think he’s going to make a run for it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well guys, I'm sorry I had to do this to you. Things between Jane and Lisbon aren't looking so good right now...but things have to get worse before they can get better, I suppose. This is what happens when you discuss personal matters at work! Thank you for all of the kind reviews I've gotten so far, it's very encouraging to know that people are enjoying this story! Love y'all!


	8. Wealth and Wounds

Jane sat up with his trademark grin. If they had just realized what he thought they had just realized, then everything was going according to plan. He had seen this coming from a mile away, honestly, who would’ve thought that the best team the CBI had wouldn’t have seen it? They seemed to be just as shocked as they were when they found out that Jack Dover and Chloe Slater were having an affair; when to Jane none of this was a surprise at all. 

“What happened, Lisbon?” he asked, meandering into the other room. 

The team was in a frenzy, grabbing their coats and keys and trying to figure out where to intercept Dover before he disappeared off the grid. 

Lisbon fixed him with an icy stare and said, “Jack Dover’s going to run.” 

“Ah. Just like I thought,” Jane said, nodding gravely. 

Van Pelt whipped around. “You figured this out already?” 

“Of course,” Jane said, surprised. 

“You didn’t think to mention that when we were wasting time at the caterer’s earlier?” Cho asked grumpily, crossing his arms. 

Jane raised a finger. “Not entirely a waste, Cho. We did learn something important.” 

Rigsby snorted. “And what exactly is that? The caterers don’t do a good enough job keeping track of the company vans?” 

“We now know that our killer used a van to transport the victim to the dumpsite. Whoever it was had to have security clearance to get to that part of the building, or at least had to have known where the caterers were going to be parked,” Jane observed. 

“Which means that our killer had to have disappeared off the cameras for some portion of the night,” Lisbon said, picking up on Jane’s train of thought. 

Rigsby cleared his throat. “The only people who fit that bill are Chloe Slater, Wilson Hendricks, and Jack Dover. None of them would have had enough time to kill Callie and transport her body, and still be back in time to show up on camera again.” 

“And what about the bank account belonging to Richard Felix?” Van Pelt asked, obviously confused by Jane’s theory. 

“Simple. Richard Felix is an alias. Callie needed a way to move money from her account to her lover’s account, and she couldn’t very well have a record of a money transfer to Ty Barrett without raising suspicion. The name Richard Felix was just a false identity used to throw suspicion off of the victim’s relationship,” Jane explained. 

Lisbon paled. “If what you just said is true, we need to find Jack Dover right now and prevent him from running away.” 

The team headed for the doors, Jane in tow, when he said, “We should probably also stop his partner.” 

Lisbon spun on her heel. “His what?” 

“Oh come now, Lisbon, you can’t really be that behind,” Jane shrugged. “I’m just thinking that there’s a very good possibility that Jack Dover and Chloe Slater are partners in crime, so to speak.” 

“Jane. You’re going to tell me what’s going on.” She steeled her voice into what Jane called ‘scary calm’. 

“Dover and Slater were having an affair. He thought his wife was still faithful and he wanted her out of the picture. Slater suggested that they kill Callie and run off together, taking all of his money plus what they would get from selling the necklace to go live on somewhere off the grid. He knew his company was failing, that much was obvious, so they had to get out before he fell into financial ruin.” 

“That actually makes some sense,” Lisbon admitted.

“What about the night of the party?” Van Pelt asked. 

“On the night of the party, Chloe talked to Callie at the bar while she waited for Jack to prop the back door open. She knew she was in the clear when Callie got the security alert. Jack disappears off-camera when Callie goes to check it out, and he ties her up in the back of the caterer’s van. He goes inside to give his speech, and when Chloe sees him, they switch places. She kills Callie and dumps her body in the woods, and is back in time to see the end of the auction,” Jane said. 

“The evidence we have right now should be enough to hold them on,” Cho suggested. “At least until we find something more concrete.” 

“Then let’s go,” Lisbon directed, and they headed out to the parking lot. She cast a sideways glance at Jane. “Any idea where they’re meeting up, Mr. Know-It-All?” 

Jane thought about this for a moment, ignoring the barb. “My guess would be that they’re going to meet up at the crime scene to dig up the necklace.” 

“You mean that the necklace was buried at the scene the whole time?” Lisbon shouted. “We’ve spent the last few days trying to track it down, in case you haven’t noticed!” 

Jane winced. “Jesus, woman, you really are quite the yeller. Can you say that again at a more acceptable volume?” 

She rolled her eyes and smacked him. “Just get in the car,” she sighed. 

_

On the way there, Lisbon had called the Sheriff to let him know what they had found out, and to ask him to prep a room for interrogation. It was too long of a drive to take them back to Sacramento, and while a local police department wasn’t the best option for questioning, it would have to do. 

She set the phone down with a clatter and glared at Jane, who despite their argument, had insisted on going with her. Lisbon was well aware of the stress that their fight was putting on the team, but chose not to care. She told herself that it was okay to be angry with him. 

“Were you ever going to tell us about your little plan, Jane?” She asked, exasperated. “Or were you just going to leave us to flounder in false clues and financial records until we lost Dover?” 

Jane looked surprised. “I didn’t mean it, Lisbon.” 

“Oh sure, like you don’t mean it every other time you purposefully withhold information from me?” 

“No! Not like that. I just assumed you had figured it out too, that’s all.” 

“Well, Jane,” Lisbon huffed. “It was stupid of you to think I caught up. You’re the genius here, remember? Do you want to know why I hadn’t figured it out? Because I’m not a goddamn psychic!” 

“There’s no such thing as psychics,” Jane repeated. 

“You’re right, I had totally forgotten,” Lisbon deadpanned. 

“Lisbon. You aren’t angry about the case.” 

“Well then what the hell am I angry at?” she shouted. 

He lowered his gaze. “You’re angry at me. I’ve given you every reason to be, so it’s not like your reaction is unfounded.” 

“Look, Jane, I don’t want to talk about this right now. Let’s close this case and get the hell out of here, and then we’ll talk, okay?” 

“Promise me. Lisbon, you have to promise that we’ll talk at some point, we can’t go on like this forever,” he said quietly. 

“Okay,” Lisbon agreed. “You have my word. We’ll get settled back in Sacramento, and then we’ll talk.” 

_

Lisbon pulled into a parking lot near the crime scene and went to meet up with the rest of the team. Neither her nor Jane had said a word to each other after the serious conversation in the car. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to talk about it and work things out, she really did, but she didn’t trust herself to be acting rationally enough. The fact that she allowed herself to still be angry at Jane pissed her off. He was a grown man, capable of breaking women’s hearts whenever he damn well pleased. 

She killed the engine and counted to ten, only allowing herself to interact with the rest of the team after she had gotten her emotions under control. Cho, Van Pelt, and Rigsby were already there, deciding who would take what side. They were dealing with a flight risk, so they had to be careful finding them. 

“Everyone has vests on, yes?” Lisbon asked. 

Van Pelt and Cho had theirs on, Rigsby did not. 

“Boss, it’s not a big deal,” Rigsby protested. 

She held her ground. “Yes, it is. You wear a vest, or else you aren’t allowed on site. No exceptions.” 

He felt Grace tug slightly on his sleeve. “C’mon, Wayne. You promised.” 

Groaning, he got his kevlar vest out of the car and begrudgingly pulled it on. 

“Van Pelt, you take the front side. Approach them and identify yourself. If they run, Cho and Rigsby will be waiting on the right and left side of the clearing near the back waiting for them. Jane,” Lisbon glared at him as she said his name, “will be waiting in the car.” 

“Why do I have to wait in the car?” Jane whined. “I can help.” 

Van Pelt raised an eyebrow. “Even if it means having to run?” 

“Nevermind,” Jane said quickly. 

“Great. I’ll go in after Van Pelt and look for the necklace. Make sure you frisk them before cuffing them, one of them might have the necklace on their person,” Lisbon explained. 

The team leaped into action as Jane sulked in the car. He didn’t want to run, but he did enjoy being in the thick of the action sometimes. His mind made up, Jane snuck out of the car and waited in the bush, just out of Lisbon’s eyesight. He still had one more trick to play. 

Under direction from Lisbon, Van Pelt waited for a few moments before approaching the couple. She was standing out of their field of vision, waiting for a signal. 

Lisbon was ahead, listening in on the conversation. Jane had been right, as usual, she realized with dismay. Both Dover and Slater were standing in the clearing, arguing over something. 

“Where the hell is it, Chloe?” Dover yelled. “How can you be so stupid?” 

Lisbon couldn’t quite hear her reply. 

“We need to get out of here. Can you really not find it?” He asked, clearly agitated. 

Lisbon watched as he put his hand to his hip, revealing a holstered handgun. Her eyes widened. Why was he armed? 

Dover pulled the gun and pointed it at Chloe. “It’s a damn shame, Chloe, a real damn shame. We can’t leave unless you find it, and I feel like you’re holding out on me. Maybe this will give you a little bit more...incentive.” 

Lisbon beckoned Van Pelt to make her move, but before she could, a man in a very familiar three-piece suit stepped out of the brush and into the clearing. Dover whipped around, gun still in hand, and pointed it at Jane’s head. 

“Don’t move!” Dover yelled. 

Jane raised his hands above his head in surrender. “Easy, easy. I’m not here to hurt you, I’m here to help.” 

“How can you help us?!” Slater cried. “Jack, honey, we need to leave. Now.” 

“No, you don’t.” 

“And why not?” Jack asked, not lowering his weapon. 

Lisbon let out a string of curses under her breath. What the hell was he playing at? 

“Because,” Jane said slowly. “I think I have the thing you’re looking for.” 

Lisbon motioned to her colleagues not to make a move on the couple. She knew Jane had a plan, and they were all in place to make a rescue if they needed to. 

Dover lowered the gun and Jane let his hands down. As soon as he did, Dover turned around and grabbed Chloe, holding the gun to her head. “Tell me what you know, or she dies.” 

Jane shifted uncomfortably. “You know who I am. I’m a consultant for the CBI.” 

“Get on with it,” Dover growled. “Why is a cop trying to help me?” 

“Not exactly a cop. I only consult with the cops,” Jane said, shrugging. 

Dover pulled the gun tighter to Slater’s head. 

“Okay, okay!” Jane pulled a bag out of his inside pocket. “Is this what you were looking for?” 

Dover’s eyes widened. “How did you get this?” 

“Simple. Why would you put the body here if you didn’t have another connection to the site? Why not leave her at the party for someone to find? You were clearly hiding something here, and you would have to come back to get it at some point or another. After we saw your bank accounts, it was obvious that you were going to try and run.” 

“Why aren’t you helping your cop friends catch us? Isn’t that your job?” 

Jane smiled. “If you ever talked to them, you would know that I don’t tend to do my job very often. I do like to cause trouble. But in this case, I felt sorry for you, so I thought I would help you out.” 

“You really expect me to believe that you’re here to help?” Dover snarled. 

“As a token of my goodwill, you can have the necklace,” Jane said amiably. “No need to thank me.” 

Jack shoved Chloe forward to take the bag from Jane. “I wasn’t planning on it.” 

Jane put both hands in his pockets. “Well, good luck to you. I’ll just be going.” 

He heard the telltale click of the safety being taken off and assumed that there was a gun trained at his back, and he froze.

“Not so fast. What’s preventing me from killing you right now?” 

Jane turned slowly. “My colleagues have a BOLO out on you two right now.” 

“So what? We could put you away and get out of here, no one would ever find us.” 

Shit, Lisbon muttered. Time to go. She motioned to the rest of the team, still out of sight.   
“Put the gun down!” Lisbon yelled, bursting out of her hiding spot. She was followed by Van Pelt, Rigsby, and Cho, all running in with their weapons drawn. 

Dover laughed and kept it trained on Jane’s back. “Or what? You’ll kill me?” 

Cho had his weapon trained on Slater. “Or she dies.” 

“You’re outnumbered, Jack,” Lisbon said calmly. “I advise you to put that down right now, and we can talk this out at the station.” 

“You think I care about that? I’m a goner, Agent Lisbon!” 

“Jack…” Chloe warned. 

Lisbon snapped. “Quiet!” 

“This could all be behind us if you would let Chloe and I go. We could be off the grid in the next five hours, no traces left for your boss to blame you for. We could just forget about the whole thing.” 

“No way.” 

Without warning, Dover quickly shifted the focus of his weapon from Jane to Lisbon. 

“Put it down,” she commanded.

There were tears in his eyes. “Not a chance.” 

The next thing Lisbon knew, she was flying backward. Several shots rang out, and Lisbon was gasping. She heard Rigsby and Cho cuffing Slater and Dover, and Jane and Van Pelt came running to her. 

“Boss, are you okay?” Van Pelt asked, worry evident in her voice. 

“Oh god, Lisbon, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know, I had no idea,” Jane babbled. 

“I had a vest on. I’m gonna be alright,” Lisbon said, wincing in pain. “It hurts to breathe.” 

Van Pelt slid her arm under Lisbon’s back, trying to help her sit up. Lisbon coughed and flinched. Sitting up only made the sharp pain much worse. She saw her vision cloud over and knew she wouldn’t stay conscious for much longer. Eventually, she stopped fighting it and let herself drift into the waves of black overtaking her head. 

“Jane, call an ambulance,” Van Pelt commanded, laying Lisbon’s head in her lap. “She needs to get checked out.” 

With shaking hands, Jane pulled out his phone and called the paramedics, giving them their location and asking them to be there as soon as they could. He knelt down next to Grace and gently stroked Lisbon’s forehead. 

“Is she going to be okay?” He asked quietly. 

Van Pelt nodded. “She’ll be fine. She probably has a couple of broken ribs, Dover was standing at pretty close range when he pulled the trigger. Usually, the vest absorbs most of the impact, but I think it was so close that it probably broke a couple of bones.” 

Jane was visibly agitated, fluttering his hands around in an attempt to comfort Lisbon. 

Van Pelt put her hand over his, halting his movements. “She’s going to be okay, Jane. She’s in a lot of pain, and that’s why she passed out. The paramedics will take her to the E.R. and give her some pain medication, but she’s going to be okay.” 

“Okay.” 

He leaned over closer to her head and pressed the gentlest of kisses to her hair. 

“I’m sorry, Lisbon. I never should have let this happen.” 

Satisfied, he held her hand until the ambulance arrived.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys...I have nothing to say for myself. Except for the fact that Lisbon's gonna be okay because she was wearing a vest, so don't get too angry. I know some people were hoping for Jane and Lisbon to make up for the fight in this chapter, but catching the killer kind of is a little more important (to Lisbon anyway!). Don't worry, there will be a couple more delicious fluff-filled chapters where they can do all the making up (and making out) they want! ;)
> 
> I'm also working on a series of fall themed oneshots and twoshots featuring our favorite team, so be sure to be on the lookout for that if you're interested!


	9. Hospitals and Helpfulness

Lisbon opened her eyes slowly, the light stinging her eyes at first. Someone stirred next to her, and she felt a hand squeeze her own. She shifted her legs and tried to move her arms, but her muscles felt tight and stiff. She quickly became aware of dull throbbing pain in her chest, made sharper whenever she tried to breathe deeply. 

“Hey,” said the person at her bedside. “How are you feeling?” 

When she didn’t move or respond, he brushed her bangs out of her face. She took a shaky breath and swallowed. 

“It’s okay,” Jane soothed. “You’ve only been here for a day. We confronted the killers and you were shot from a pretty close range.” 

Lisbon grabbed for the glass of water sitting next to the bed. She felt as if she hadn’t drunk anything in days. A pounding sensation gripped her head as she winced in pain while trying to take deep breaths, but only ended up wheezing.

“What’s wrong with me?” Lisbon gasped between coughs. 

Jane’s eyes shone with concern. “Lisbon, you have to try to calm down. You’re going to hurt yourself more.”

“I-I can’t breathe!”

“Lisbon, come on. Try to breathe. Inhale one, exhale two. It’s gonna hurt, but it’ll hurt more if you keep coughing.” 

Lisbon concentrated on the sound of his voice, dully aware that he might be putting her in a slight trance. Because she couldn’t get enough air in through her lungs, she felt the need to cough and clear it up, which only spiked the pain more. Listening to Jane drone on curbed the sharp pricks enough for her to be able to stop coughing. Just then, one of the doctors came into the room. 

“Good afternoon, Teresa. I’m Doctor Thomson, and I’ve been taking care of you since you were brought in yesterday. How are you feeling?” The doctor asked. He was a tall, gentle-looking man with kind eyes. 

Before Lisbon could even open her mouth, Jane blurted, “She’s panicking.” 

“It’s quite normal. With these kinds of injuries, it can feel very uncomfortable to breathe, so the coughing is her body’s way of making up for the lack of air. I assure you that there’s nothing to worry about,” Thomson explained, putting a hand on Jane’s shoulder. 

Jane’s hand drifted back towards Lisbon and she clasped it, grateful for the contact. 

“What exactly happened?” Lisbon asked shakily. 

The doctor smiled. “Your team called an ambulance after you were shot yesterday. Thankfully, your vest protected you from permanent damage, but it was at such a close range that the brunt of the impact was absorbed by your body instead of the vest. We took an x-ray, and you have three cracked ribs and a pulmonary contusion.” 

Lisbon shook her head. “I’m not quite sure what that last one means,” she admitted. 

“It basically means that your right lung is bruised and isn’t absorbing oxygen as fast as it normally would. This doesn’t look too severe, so we only had you on a breathing apparatus for a few hours. What kind of pain do you feel right now?” he asked. 

She squeezed Jane’s hand. “Tightness,” she said, gesturing vaguely to the area. “and lots of pain when I breathe.” 

“That’s totally normal, please don’t worry. It’s not comfortable right now, and it’s going to feel weird to breathe deeply for a little while. But,” Thomson said, “one thing I want to stress to you is that you don’t breathe shallowly on purpose to dull the pain. I’ll have someone bring you some painkillers, and you only need to stay for another hour under observation. It’s good to see you awake. Let me know if you need anything else.” 

“Thanks,” Lisbon replied softly. 

The doctor left the room, leaving Jane and Lisbon to sit in uncomfortable silence. Her raspy breathing was audible, and Jane hated seeing her like this. He knew she was in a lot of pain, and he also knew that she was downplaying it for his benefit. Jane rubbed his thumb in comforting circles on the back of her hand. 

“Tell me everything,” Lisbon demanded. 

“I already did,” Jane said, surprised. “You were shot so we brought you to a hospital here in Santa Maria. The rest of the team is out at Sheriff Rydell’s processing the suspects.” 

“Tell me about the case.” 

“You already know pretty much everything. We both heard the confession when I went out there to talk to them.” 

“Why did you have that necklace?” she asked. 

“I picked it up when Cho and I went to investigate the second time. The edge of the bag had been uncovered when I walked over it, and I kept it handy because I knew the killer would come back for it,” he explained. 

“It was a close one, Jane.” 

“I know,” he whispered. “I’m sorry. I never should have gone near them, I put you in danger.” 

“Occupational hazard. Besides, a couple of broken ribs is nothing to be defeated over. I’m just glad I was wearing a vest,” Lisbon said in an attempt at lightheartedness. 

“He was standing really close, Lisbon.” 

“How close?” 

Jane shook his head. “He couldn’t have been more than ten feet away. I’m just glad that you escaped with minor injuries.”

“Me too,” Lisbon echoed. “How’s the rest of the team?” 

“Fine. Worried, but fine. Van Pelt had the difficult task of keeping me calm while waiting for x-ray results, and I probably gave her a bit of a fight. Not to worry though, they were able to go get some sleep and are working our killers now.” 

“Why did you stay?” Lisbon asked, another unspoken question dying on her lips. 

Jane played it off. “You know I hardly sleep anyways. I had to make sure you were okay. Look, I know we haven’t been at our best since the other day, but-” 

He was cut off by a nurse in pink scrubs entering the room. She handed Lisbon a bottle of painkillers. 

“Hey there. I just spoke to Dr. Thomson, and he said you were okay to leave if you’re feeling up to it. The only thing you need to remember is to take these when you feel the need to and remember to do a couple of minutes of deep breathing every hour or so to prevent further injury. You’re to stay on desk duty for a while, no strenuous work until you’re all healed up, okay?” The nurse said in a chipper tone. 

Lisbon groaned inwardly. If she had to be on desk duty until she was better, the next couple of weeks would be hell. 

“Sure,” Lisbon said, forcing a nonchalant attitude. 

The nurse left and Jane moved to help Lisbon out of the bed, wincing in pain as she sat up. He put a hand on her lower back, gently guiding her out of the room, and for once she didn’t flinch away. 

When they were in the elevator, Lisbon asked, “What were you going to say back there?” 

“Let’s not talk about that now,” Jane deflected. “Right now let’s just focus on getting you to go see the team, and we can talk about it when we get back to Sacramento, okay?” 

“Okay.” 

_

Rigsby was walking out of the makeshift interrogation room when he saw Jane and Lisbon coming into the building from one of the front entrances. He wasn’t expecting them to be here so soon, but he wasn’t super surprised. The boss always was kind of a control freak when it came to working cases. 

“Hey, boss,” Rigsby greeted. “Feeling any better?” 

“A bit, yeah,” Lisbon replied. “It’s good to see you. How’s the interrogation going?” 

“Good. We got them in yesterday and Cho was able to get a confession out of Chloe Slater. He and Van Pelt are tag-teaming Jack Dover’s interrogation, and we’re expecting to get the confession any time,” he said. 

“Maybe we can find a place to sit down?” Jane suggested. 

Rigsby led them to the bullpen area of the department, and Jane pulled out a chair for Lisbon. She smiled weakly at him and sat down heavily. Rigsby noted the atmospheric change in mood between the two of them and made a mental note to ask Grace about it later.

“Slater confessed yesterday, while you were still out,” Rigsby said. “She claims that Jack tied Callie up in the back of the van, and while he was giving his speech she snuck out, killed Callie, and drove the van to the dumpsite. She was back before the end of the auction, showing up right on cue with our video feed.” 

“Interesting,” Lisbon said. “I was actually fairly convinced that she had nothing to do with it.” 

Jane looked at her with a mischievous grin. “I knew it all along.” 

Just then, Van Pelt and Cho came out of the interrogation room, discussing something about Dover’s testimony. Cho spotted Lisbon first and pointed her out to Grace, who in turn practically flew across the bullpen in an attempt to get to Lisbon. 

“Boss! You didn’t tell us you were coming back so soon!” Van Pelt accused, grabbing Lisbon’s hand. “Are you feeling any better?” 

Lisbon was already tired of people asking her that question. “I’m fine. It’s a couple of broken ribs and a minor pulmonary contusion, nothing to be too worried about.” 

Grace’s eyes shone. “I was worried. We were all worried.” 

Cho walked over and patted Lisbon’s shoulder awkwardly. “Glad you’re okay.” 

“Thanks, guys,” Lisbon said, softening. The team was like a family, of course they were going to be worried about her. 

“What happened in there?” Jane asked. 

“Dover confessed. He’ll be tried for first-degree murder, along with Slater. The financial crimes unit at headquarters is going to take care of the fraud charges,” Van Pelt explained. 

“Case closed?” Rigsby asked hopefully, knowing well what it meant. 

“Case closed,” Lisbon confirmed. “Want to get some pizza?” 

The team went back to their cars and agreed to meet up at a pizza place they had seen while driving through the town. Jane refused to let Lisbon drive, much to her dismay and argued that she needed to rest. Lisbon claimed that she would not be able to rest if he was driving, but he did not relent. She spent much of the ride clutching the grab handle with a white-knuckled grip. 

Jane gently reminded her that she had to do a few minutes of deep breathing, and volunteered to do it with her, so they sat in the parking lot in silence for a moment while they waited for the team to arrive. The painkillers had done wonders, but now that they were starting to wear off, Lisbon was feeling drained and achy. It was going to be a fun couple of weeks until this was healed, she thought. 

The team sat in one booth, a fidgety Jane stuck between Lisbon and Rigsby. He was more concerned for Lisbon than he let on, despite her protests that she was okay. It was his fault that she got shot, after all. 

“So I guess we’re headed back to Sacramento?” Lisbon asked after they had ordered. 

“Yep. We tied up all the loose ends here, so there’s not much else we can do,” Cho agreed. 

“Great. Let’s leave tomorrow, I for one can’t wait to get back to working from an actual office instead of a motel room,” Lisbon joked.

The pizza arrived then, and Jane explained to the rest of the team how he knew who the killers were and how he found the necklace. Van Pelt laughed when she learned how he had pulled a fast one on Cho, showing him the valve cap instead of the necklace. 

Lunch was a jovial affair, with everyone glad to finally have this case wrapped up so that they could get home. Lisbon especially was looking forward to relaxing on her couch with a bowl of ice cream. Traveling for work was nice- to an extent. 

_

They headed back to the hotel after lunch to pack up all their things, but Lisbon was so exhausted that she decided it would be more beneficial to take a nap. She hadn’t locked the door between her and Van Pelt’s rooms, so Grace crept in quietly and tried to clean up the room a bit, just in case Lisbon wasn’t feeling up to it when she woke up. 

When Van Pelt went back to her room, she found Rigsby waiting there with a donut. 

“Hey,” he said around a mouthful of donut. 

“Hey yourself,” she said, giggling. “Can I have some?” 

Reluctantly, he broke off half of the donut and gave it to her. They sat in silence, savoring it until Rigsby commented that Jane and Lisbon seemed to be not fighting anymore. 

“I noticed the same thing,” Grace said. “I’m not sure how much of whatever it was is actually resolved though.” 

“What do you mean?” 

“I just mean that maybe they opted to put it aside for now, you know since Lisbon did get shot yesterday.” 

“Hmm,” Rigsby replied. “I kind of wish they would just stop. There’s so much tension between them all the time, not that I mind usually, but every time they get into an argument, things just kind of blow up.” 

“I know what you mean. But it’s okay, they’ll work it out. They always do.” 

Rigsby suddenly leaned in and kissed Grace softly. 

“I wanted to ask,” he stammered. “I guess, since the other day we didn’t, well, didn’t really talk about it.” 

“Wayne, it’s okay. What’s up?”

“Are we dating?” he blurted. 

Grace hummed quietly. “Do you want to be dating?” 

“I’d like that a lot. I love you, Grace.” 

“I love you too,” she said, grinning. “You know we’ll have to keep this a secret, right? From Lisbon and the rest of the team?” 

“If it means I can be with you, then I couldn’t care less.” 

She leaned up to meet his lips. “You’re cute. Isn’t it a bit odd that you’re officially my boyfriend now and we’ve never even been on a date?” 

“I would venture to say that our relationship had a few, uh, extenuating circumstances. But I might have a couple of ideas for that first date if you’re interested,” Rigsby said. 

“Looking forward to it,” Grace said, smiling. “I love you.” 

_

When Lisbon woke up two hours later, she was feeling infinitely better. It still hurt a little bit to breathe, but the pounding in her head was almost completely gone. Rolling out of bed, she noticed that someone had been in to pack up her stuff, and she quickly assumed it had been Grace. 

Lisbon brushed her hair and changed back into a set of clothes that actually belonged to her, and stopped by Grace’s room to give her clothes back. 

“Oh, hey Rigsby,” Lisbon said, walking into the room to see him perched on the chair in the corner of Grace’s room. 

“Um, hi Boss,” Rigsby stuttered, blushing. 

Graced stared at him. “You should probably go get your stuff, we’re going to leave in a bit.” 

“Oh, um, yeah. See you later,” he said, already halfway out the door. 

Lisbon handed Van Pelt the stack of neatly folded clothes. 

“Thanks for cleaning up a bit, I really appreciate it,” Lisbon said truthfully. 

“No worries,” Grace said, waving it off. “I’m happy to help. By the way, I wanted to tell you how worried Jane was yesterday.”

“He mentioned that a few times,” Lisbon said slowly.

“I practically had to handcuff him to the chair to get him to sit still,” Van Pelt joked. “He was really concerned for you, and I think that’s sweet.” 

“How is that sweet?” 

“You haven’t noticed that he only gets that worked up when you’re the one who’s hurt?” Grace said with a knowing smile. 

“Yeah, no. I’m not even going to go there.” 

“Suit yourself. I think it’s cute.” 

Lisbon shook her head. Van Pelt was ever the hopeless romantic. 

“I’m about ready to go, do you think the guys are good to leave?” Lisbon asked. 

Together they rounded up the rest of the team and checked out of their rooms. Lisbon watched with curiosity as they divided themselves among the three cars, Jane riding with Lisbon, Rigsby going with Van Pelt, and Cho deciding to go alone. 

It was a pleasant ride back to Sacramento, Jane relinquishing driving privileges back to Lisbon, and after she dropped him off at his house, or rather his motel room, she quickly drove back to her own apartment. 

She showered quickly, washing off all the stress and grime of the past few days, and fell unceremoniously into bed. Thank god tomorrow’s Saturday, she thought. Minelli didn’t want them back in the office until Monday, so she would have two days to herself to get some rest. 

At least, that’s what she was hoping for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well guys, we're almost at the end here! There's probably just one more chapter after this one, and Jane and Lisbon will finally get to have their heart-to-heart. We all know that Jane feels bad, so how is he going to make it up to her...? 
> 
> I'm working on another project right now as well, and I'm open to prompts so drop me a line if you have something you'd like to see. Feel free to check out my fall series, the first of which, She Wore a Red Dress, is up right now, so check that out if you're interested. Thanks for sticking with this story, the encouragement I've been getting is unbelievable! Love you lots!

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: I hope you enjoyed the story so far, it's the first fanfic I've ever actually posted. If you like this sort of thing or if you have a prompt/story idea, they are always welcome! I'm always looking for new story premises. New chapter will be up soon! Thanks guys!


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